Persona - The Ties That Bind
by Solidus-AI
Summary: The guests of the Velvet Room were always nothing less than remarkable. Now, when catastrophe once again strikes the Earth, they once more find themselves tapping into the power of their respective Persona to save the world and defeat their greatest foe.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Old Enemies, New Problems**

In the great amount of time he spent as a denizen of the Velvet Room, never has he felt this worried.

He had been tasked with the grand honor of assisting remarkable guests on their larger than life journeys and he was always more than pleased when they had completed their quests with new-found strength and increased wisdom. The world those guests and their friends lived in were, for the most part, safe from harm.

Yet at the same time, it was currently moment's away from destruction.

There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that wasn't going away anytime soon as he was currently seated in front of an empty table, frown plastered on his face. A great disturbance would soon befall the realm outside of the Velvet Room and following it would no doubt be infinite terror, but just what was it?

"Master, you seem perturbed, is something the matter?" A feminine voice beside him spoke up, laced with concern aimed towards the man in the chair. Igor turned towards the voice and replied.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with Margaret, for now at least," Igor said. He couldn't hide the worry in his voice as he knew a great occurrence was about to take place. Soon, the nagging feeling he had felt begun to increase into somewhat of a great annoyance. For a moment, he sensed was could only be described as pure (and yet, vaguely familiar) maliciousness and the feeling made his hairs stand on end. Quickly, he stood from his chair and looked around the room as if searching for something.

"Master!" Margaret yelled, compendium slightly opened in her hand as she too stood from where she was seated. She scanned Igor's rapidly moving visage only to be confused. The look on his face was something she never saw from him before. Was it shock, anger?

Fear?

Igor checked the room over once more before he felt the familiar dark aura once more and a look of realization dawned upon his face. He whirled around to face Margaret fast enough to make her think he would've snapped his neck before speaking in a clear and troubled voice. "Margaret, I require you to wait here for a moment; I need to leave the Room and request an audience with somebody."

Margaret's breathing hitched for a second. "You wish to speak with...?" She never finished her sentence for Igor was already walking towards the entrance of the Velvet Room.

"I shall return in due time, for now, your main task is to wait here and make sure nothing goes awry in the Room," Igor spoke while facing the door. With noticeable hesitation, he grabbed the knob of the door and turned it slowly and pulled. The door creaked open loudly before letting in nothing but pure blinding light. Igor took it in stride and proceeded to exit the room, shutting the door behind him with a loud slam.

Margaret stared at where Igor once was for a few moments before returning to her seated position with an audible sigh. "It would seem we are soon to encounter a force that would require power beyond our wildest dreams." With that, she closed her eyes and began to hum a tune.

Time was never a luxury the denizens of the Velvet Room ever worried about. As the Velvet Room was an anomaly outside of time itself, questions about it would only return more of such. Mere minutes could have actually turned out to be long hours, while long hours could have actually proven to have been mere minutes. Yet, ever since her sister left and the completion of the journey of the last guest, Margaret felt as if she had been in the room with her master for an eternity. Over-exaggeration was a childish habit of her sister, for Margaret believed it could beget confusion unto those who were foolish enough. She never enjoyed the antics of her younger sister as they easily annoyed her to know end.

Yet, why did she feel as if she was beginning to miss that?

Margaret shook her head, how human of her to feel attachment to something, it was a weakness that could distract her like it did her sister. Then she remembered the promise she made to her guest. How if the same fate would befall him as her sister, Elizabeth's, guest, then she too would leave her duty in the room to save him. She chuckled, now she was beginning to contradict herself; she was becoming more and more like Elizabeth than she realized.

Very quickly, she banished the thoughts from her mind and begun to read the compendium in her lap.

* * *

Light. Blinding light.

As Igor walked through the Velvet Door he was assaulted with a bright light, it was always a hassle coming here, but it wasn't his place to complain. He'd be out of line and would be in grave trouble. He shut the door behind him and stood still for a while, focusing on where he needed to go. Finally after a quick moment, a clear visual came to his mind before he turned back towards the door he just shut. He placed his hand on the knob and gave it a squeeze before twisting it and opening the door once more.

However, when the door opened completely, the Velvet Room he resided in wasn't on the other side. Instead, standing in front of him with his back turned to Igor's face was his Master. Having spoken to him on many occasions before, Igor knew what to. He placed his hand on his chest before bowing out of respect.

"Master, it is a pleasure to stand before you once more," Igor spoke. The man in front of Igor slowly turned towards him, shortly before speaking to Igor.

"At ease Igor, I'm sure you are not here for ill reason," Philemon spoke. His voice was calm, and yet it easily called upon authority. Most of his face save the bottom right half of it was covered in a white mask that stretched out on one side to resemble a golden butterfly wing; on his body, he wore a black suit under a white blazer and white pants. Igor stood up straight and looked at his master Philemon in the face before speaking up once more.

"Surely you felt it to did you not Master? The aura of pure collective evil and malice. It was not weak, I fear for the worst." Igor looked downwards, his frown being overshadowed by his long, beak-like nose. Philemon looked upwards, a sigh of irritation escaping his mouth.

"Yes my loyal servant, I too felt the aura. It would be impossible for me not to due to the origins of that evil being my opposite." Philemon brought his head down to look at Igor once more. "This time, he has a goal in mind, no longer is he being held back by the bet we made, no, this time, he wants a war." Philemon once again turned away from Igor and looked out into the endless abyss. "Though our game was far from over, Nyarlathotep was forced to be banished to parts unknown to those of lesser existence. I felt as if it was only in exile that he would be able to cause no harm to humanity, and yet..."

Igor took his hesitation as an opportunity to talk once more, "And yet, him being the collective maliciousness of mankind has only forced him back into this realm Master. However, he has increased in power and is back with a vengeance. We cannot eschew retaliation in the matter, or else it will return to us tenfold." Philemon turned back with a small chuckle, looking towards his servant.

"Nyarlathotep is playing by his own rules now. I cannot lie, the game we have made has truly become interesting. However, I feel he will go too far with what he might do soon. Igor you are right, we'll need to strike back with a powerful force. A force with more might that any that stood before it." At this, Igor furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and curiosity alike. Just what was Philemon talking about he wondered; a powerful, unbeatable force unlike any before?

"Master, I humbly ask that you please expound your suggestion," Igor stepped back, gazing upon Philemon in true curiosity and eagerness. What Philemon was about to say would truly send Igor for a loop.

"Do you recall when I created you Igor?" Philemon asked.

"I would hope that I would, Master," Igor replied. "You told me why I was created and went over the basis of the current game you are locked in with Nyarlathotep."

"Excellent, truly excellent." Philemon smiled at Igor. "Due to Nyarlathotep avoiding the rules of not interfering, I created you help unlock the potential in the souls of the guests of the Velvet Room, correct?"

"Yes, Master however I-," Igor was cut off.

"Each guest was unique and remarkable in their own way and they wouldn't be where they were today without the help of you, Igor!" Philemon now was practically ecstatic, almost excited over whatever he was going on about.

"Master..."

"Igor, Nyarlathotep is returning to the world that banished him and no doubt, will he ignore the concept of mercy. I refuse to let him do unto this world what he did to the Other Side." Philemon walked towards Igor and placed his hand on his shoulder, staring deep into his wide eyes. Igor recalled the incident that created two parallel universes, Nyarlathotep was truly chaos embodied. Fitting for his title of Crawling Chaos. However, Philemon bringing up the existences of the previous guests of the Velvet Room had left Igor at a loss.

Unless...

Igor's eyes widened even more at the sudden realization of what his Master was leading on finally dawning upon him. His breathing hitched out of shock before he stepped back, unable to keep himself from grinning any longer, he spoke up.

"Master if I may, I believe I finally understand just what you wish for," he spoke. Philemon looked upon Igor, though most of his face was hidden, one could easily tell he was smirking.

"Yes Igor I believe you have. Nyarlathotep is moving fast, perhaps too fast. I don't believe I can stop him from enacting his master plan, but knowing him, there is always a way to somewhat reverse what he has done. A catastrophe will fall upon the people of Earth, I unfortunately have no doubt in that. However, if my plan works, than Nyarlathotep's victory can be halted just yet."

"Yes Master, I see now, with their power, nothing is out of reach," Igor said.

"Nevertheless it will be a tough task for them. I cannot stop myself from even thinking it to be nigh impossible, but it would seem that we have no other choice my servant." Philemon once again turned away from Igor, crossing his arms and appearing aloof. "Nyarlathotep my friend get ready, for a might that you have never encountered will bar your path. An encounter will be unavoidable and yet I find myself looking forward to the moment of collision."

"Master, what is your next wish?" Igor asked, once again bowing with his hand covering his chest. Philemon turned his head so Igor could only see his profile.

"Gather the attendants and prepare the Velvet Room, Igor. Leave it to me to gather the guests."

Igor nodded his head in understanding before speaking once more. "Your wish is my command, Master." With that, he turned towards the door that he entered and opened it again. Leaving with a wide grin plastered on his face.

* * *

When the door to the Velvet Room opened, Margaret closed the compendium in her lap and looked up. Her face was generally devoid of any emotion and she spoke in a calm voice.

"Welcome back Master," she greeted. Igor waved off her greeting politely and returned to his seat in front of the table.

"Margaret, I have an important task for you," Igor said.

"Whatever may it be?" Margaret asked.

Igor placed his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers under his very long nose. "I ask that you find your sister for me. I understand that she wishes not to return until she has completed what she set out to do, however, our current situation shall also occur in conjunction with her goal. This leaves her with no choice but to return."

"Master, just what are our current intentions?" Margaret questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

"That question shall be answered when you see her next, and I won't be the one to give you the answer. Now go," Igor demanded. Margaret stood, bowed and then left.

Igor stayed silent for a few moments before he began to think to himself. His conversation with Philemon left Igor antsy and he could no doubt wait no longer for what was to occur.

"I must admit that I am delighted to once again give my guidance," he said.

"And to none other than our previous guests!"

* * *

 **So this is something that's been on my mind for the past few months. I figured, why not actually flesh it out and make it a real thing, eh? Sorry about the short chapter, I'll try to make the ones after this longer (6k** **at least). I will warn you, at max, expect an update at least once a week, College is unfortunately a thing and it takes up most of my time nowadays. I probably should've worked on this over the summer where there was more time on my hands.**

 **Anyways, critique is always accepted, and of course reviews are always nice.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Kingpin and The Emperor**

 **\- Reviews**

 **Pradian: Alter Bridge? Sorry, can't say I've heard of it. For pairings, there won't really be any in this story. Well, there will be Minato and Elizabeth stuff sprinkled in here and there if that helps.**

 **Dan the Butcher: Such enthusiasm, thanks for the positive review!**

 **Nightly7: Funny thing about this story. It went through a TON of revisions on the drawing board before I finally decided to start it. Originally it was, like you assumed, going to be the entire cast of Persona against the Crawling Chaos himself. However, I scrapped that idea shortly afterwards. This is basically going to be the main protagonists against Nyarly-boy and his army. I will tell you that I do plan on including at least three more heroes to this story. Oh and yes, Nyarlathotep will have a massive strength increase to keep things interesting.**

 **Extraneous: Sorry for the late update ladies and gentlemen, College is...gosh golly! I was wondering if I should've went in chronological order with the protagonists, but then I decided against it.**

 **Well anyways, here's chapter 2!**

Sunday mornings.

Waking up to Sunday mornings always seemed to put him at ease and he never knew why. Perhaps it was the knowledge that there would be no school on those days and he was given a chance to relax. Maybe it was due to the fact that despite living in Tokyo, it was always tranquil. Nevertheless, he didn't feel like spending the entire day within the confines of his room.

Yu Narukami stood up and walked towards the bathroom the start his day. He looked in the mirror and examined his reflection; disheveled hair, dried up drool on the side of his mouth, red marks lined his cheek showing him that his face was pressed a little too hard to his bed. Evidence of a good nights sleep he concluded, then proceeded to clean up.

He didn't have plans today, but that was nothing that couldn't be fixed by simply getting lost around Tokyo. He could simply find solace in the fact that he didn't laze around the house and take up space. He stepped out of the bathroom and walked into the kitchen where he noticed a note on the refrigerator door. He snatched it up and read what was written on it.

' _Had to leave early to meet a client, I'll see you tomorrow evening'_

 _\- Mom_

Right, his parents were always busy people. He couldn't complain, they put food on the table and clothes on his back. Not to mention, if they weren't so busy then he may have never met his lifelong friends. Which reminded him, when was the last time he spoke to his old teammates? Yu crumbled the note in his hand and tossed it in the trash; he turned on the television to check the news. The screen came to life and it showed a rather animated weather woman.

"Today is looking to be a hot and humid day out there so be sure to dress lightly!" Good, no rain. After having to worry about it and what the horrid weather brought with it, he sure as hell had enough of it for a while. He turned the television back off and headed towards the front door. He looked back towards the soon to be empty apartment and slightly grimaced. There was more than one reason as to why he frequented the streets of Tokyo. He always disliked the feeling of being alone, it was something he always held a strong distaste for.

The distaste only amplified after he events in Yasoinaba.

He knew he could never show his faults to his comrades, he was their fearless leader after all. Showing weakness to those who respect you for your strength could lead to cracks in team morale. He had seen their respective darkness and pulled them into the light. The recent events of the P-1 Grand Prix only helped remind him that he was weak, which was why he needed to stop it at all costs. But that was the past, and dwelling was a habit that he didn't too much care for.

Shaking his head, he opened the door leading to the outside world and left. True to the weather prediction, the air felt awfully humid. Coupled with the summer heat, Yu was already predicting a great day ahead of him (he always enjoyed the burning heat summer brought with it). He straightened his dark jacket, covering his silver dress shirt and made his way to the train station.

He would have to call one if his friends and check up on how they were doing. Regarding his previous self-questioning earlier, he tried to remember the last time he communicated with his old friends in Inaba and recalled a brief conversation with Yosuke just last week. The conversation was enjoyable despite his brown-haired partner doing most of the speaking.

Yosuke mainly spoke on how his father was preparing him for future management of Junes and how 'boring' his training procedures were. They involved mock meetings and dividing pay amongst the staff to help ensure that he would be a proper manager. Yu chuckled at how grim Yosuke seemed when he brought them up, remembering him specifically say 'I kind of almost wish somebody would get kidnapped again. That'd bring a spark in my life!'

After a couple of minutes of walking, someone caught Yu's attention. On the corner of the street he was on was an old man. He seemed rather hectic, shouting at pedestrians passing by. Of course, he was ignored seeing as most people in Tokyo never had time for passing glances. The man was in Yu's path so he would inevitably have to pass him and hear what he was saying.

"The end is nigh, a great evil approaches! All will be lost soon! But do not fret, there are those with the potential, they can undo what will be wrought upon us!" At that, the old man started pointing in random directions, muttering gibberish before halting his movements. Slowly, he turned in Yu's direction and pointed right at him.

"You there child! You have the potential! Yes, you are one of the chosen, blessed by the angels above! Within you lies the hope of man, look upon this blessed child heathens for he shall be our champion!" The old man was ecstatic about Yu and the 'potential' he had. Narukami gave him a questioning look before walking off at a faster pace than before. When he got far enough , Yu stopped and looked back. The 'potential' the old man was talking about, could it be? No, as far as Yu was concerned, the only people he knew that had knowledge about Personas and Shadows were his friends and the Shadow Operatives he met. But what if he did know something? That would mean that what ever danger was coming this way wouldn't be too far fetched...

Yu expelled the thought from his mind and kept at his original pace, he wasn't going to let one weird person ruin his day so easily. Soon the silver-haired man found himself near a train station; he walked towards the bulletin and checked the train schedule for today. Skimming over the sheets, his eyes took sudden interest in one area-

"Sumaru City, why does that name send the weirdest chill up my spine?" Yu instinctively turned around at the sudden voice and almost jumped when he saw a man right next to him. Said man turned towards him and gave him an apologetic smile.

There was something about this guy...

"Oh, my apologies, I didn't mean to scare you there mister uhh..." The man looked at him, wanting Yu to give him his name. Before he did, he took the time to examine his features. The man had smooth purple hair reaching down towards the bridge of his nose. He wore silver earrings on his ears that seemed to match his current attire. A black long sleeved shirt and gray khakis. Yu looked back up towards his face, purple eyes still staring at him expectantly, was that lipstick he was wearing? Whatever, Yu opened his mouth to speak.

"It's Yu, Yu Narukami." Simple, he didn't feel like asking for his name in return, though he felt as if he would get it anyways.

"Huh, you looked more like a Souji to me; well, whatever, that doesn't matter now that I have your name." The man smiled towards him, seemingly pleased with Yu's answer to his unspoken question.

"U-um, if you don't mind me asking sir, what about Sumaru City creeps you out?" Yu asked.

"Name's Naoya, I feel old when I'm called sir. I mean come on, I'm only thirty-four. But I digress, I'm sorry but I can't really answer your question. I've always known about the city and even used to make frequent visits when I was younger, but the strange feeling only appeared a few years ago. It came out of nowhere, and I just can't explain what causes it." Naoya turned his gaze upwards, appearing thoughtful for a short moment. He looked back towards Yu before speaking again.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's by going to the source! You were planning on going there too right? I noticed you staring awfully intently at when the next train arrives for Sumaru." Yu looked back at the schedule, the next train was thirty minutes away, he looked back at Naoya's smiling face. Yu couldn't put his finger on it, but Naoya was giving off a familiar feeling. Yu couldn't explain it, but he wanted to investigate it more.

"Yeah, yeah I was actually. Do you mind waiting with me?" Yu asked politely.

"Sure, no doubt. You seem like my kind of guy Yu, like the kind of guy I'd get drunk with." That received a small laugh from Yu, making him remember the last time he had too much to drink. They found a bench and took a seat, but not before purchasing tickets. The two seemed to get along quite easily, soon forming a healthy conversation about a multitude of topics. Eventually, the train arrived, forcing the two to get on, lest they miss their ride. When they took their seats, Yu took the opportunity to learn more about Naoya. It was a chance to discover more about the strange vibe he was getting from him.

"So tell me, where did you go to high school?" It was a simple question, he avoiding asking something too specific so he wouldn't seem like he was prying into his life. Naoya however, grimaced for a split second before turning and smiling at him.

"I attended St. Hermelin High. It was a decent school, the principal sucked though. So snobby, the guy needed a good punch to his face. You seem young enough to still be in high school."

"Uh, yeah actually. It's summer vacation at the moment, but I used to attend Yasogami High School where-" Yu was cut off quickly.

"Whoa, isn't that in Inaba?" Naoya asked, intrigue painting his visage. Yu knew the conversation would turn this way.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" He knew why he was asking.

"I remember hearing about a huge murder case that went down there about a year or two ago." Naoya comically looked to his left and then right, as if he was searching for nosy ears then leaned in closer to Yu. "Rumor has it, that it was actually a group of school kids that really solved the case. Now, while that does sound weird, I'll have you know I'm no stranger to the odd and unbelievable. What do YOU know about the murders?"

Yu gave a very noticeable blush upon hearing about the 'rumor' Naoya brought up. He tried to reply to his question, but could only muster up an embarrassing stutter. Naoya gave a small chuckle before leaning back into his chair. "Don't worry about it, it's probably rude of me to even bring up something like that," Naoya said.

Yu sighed in relief before mimicking Naoya's actions. "No, no it's alright. I wasn't really affected by the case myself too much." Naoya let out a yawn before adjusting his seating, seemingly getting ready to take a nap on the long ride. He opened his mouth to speak, voice only adding onto the assumption that he seemed tired and just exhausted.

"If awakening to the power of Persona is something that doesn't affect you, then I'm scared of what does." After he finished speaking, his head lolled to the side, signifying that he had finally dozed off into slumber. Yu however, was quite the opposite. His back was nearly against the window after hearing what Naoya had just said.

' _H-he knows?'_ Just who the hell was this Naoya guy? He practically just figured out Yu's secret. First he feels an odd sense within in him when he meets the guy, and now he learned that Naoya knew about Persona? He relaxed a bit when he realized that he wasn't an enemy, because he could've easily taken him out at any given point. Yu looked out the window, gazing at the world moving outside of the train; their current destination is Sumaru City.

He was determined to find answers.

 **Again, I do apologize that this chapter took a while to come into existence. In the previous chapter I said I'll attempt a chapter a week, and unfortunately I don't see that happening. There won't really be a schedule for this story in all honestly. So just keep your eyes open guys!**

 **This chapter was gonna be way longer actually but I decided to split it into two parts. Next chapter, the duo will arrive in Sumaru and Narukami will get to learn more about Naoya.**

 **As always, reviews and critique will be appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Kingpin and The Emperor II**

 **\- Reviews**

 **Rosalinda Lancaster Leonhart: Wow, that's a long name. Anyways to answer your question... this chapter!**

 **AmeYuuki: Theodore will definitely be in the story. As for the FeMC...**

 **Guest: Minato will be here shortly. Hmm, doesn't Tatsuya have brown hair? I thought you were talking about somebody else...**

 **Extraneous: Maybe I should apologize for taking a few months to update this…. yyyeeeaaahhh. Anyways, the semester ended last week and I'm free until early January! So here's somethin' for you guys!**

 **Let the chapter commence!**

* * *

The train slowed to a halt, the wheels letting out a large screech against the rails as its momentum slowly but surely faded. The conductor's voice came through the intercoms located above the windows of the train.

"We have arrived at Sumaru City; we will be departing for Kyoto in thirty minutes. Passengers, do not forget your belongings as you exit the train." Soon, passengers began to rise from their seats, being sure to take their stuff with them, lest they lose them forever. Groups of people soon began to file out, making the center aisle quite stuffy for others.

In the front, Yu removed his gaze from the window and turned towards the still sleeping Naoya. He found it kind of funny how he was able to sleep the entire hour and a half ride without at least waking up for a quick second. He extended his arm and shook Naoya's shoulder.

"Hey, we're here. Come on, wake up Naoya." Naoya's loud snoring told Narukami that it wasn't working. With a sigh, he grabbed him by both shoulders and shook him more vigorously, receiving quite the amount of stares from bystanders. "Come on get up! You don't wanna miss your stop do you?!"

Apparently, the combination of his near violent shaking and yelling seemed to do the trick as Naoya's snoring abruptly stopped and he shot up like a rod.

"Wha-?" Naoya looked left and right, his bangs covering his left eye, and drool seeping from his chin. He wiped his face and fixed his hair, quickly standing from his seat and smiling as hard as he could. When the magnitude of people in the aisle decreased, he hopped into the line and motioned for Yu to join him.

"Come on Yu stop being lazy, we're at Sumaru." Yu let out a sigh, before giving a forced smile.

He was on a mission.

Sumaru City was... gloomy to say the least. Sure, Inaba was located in the middle of nowhere and it was a silent city. But Sumaru just made Yu feel flat out depressed. There were more people here than there were in Inaba sure, but the all-around atmosphere made him want to jump off of a bridge. His thoughts were interrupted when Naoya slapped him on the back, and gave him a concerned smile.

"You alright there, pal? You seem to be thinking a lot. Is that a hobby of yours I should know about?" Naoya innocently questioned.

Yu looked towards Naoya, nearly forgetting he was with him due to Sumaru's depressing atmosphere. "Uh n-no, it's just the vibe the city is giving me is all. I think I see what you mean about the feeling you get from here. It's almost like..."

"Like there's more to be found out. Like there's a force calling out to you, correct?" Naoya finished. Yu was flabbergasted, he couldn't have worded it better himself. It's like he quite literally read his mind.

"Y-yeah..." Yu managed to utter out. Naoya walked in front of him, gazing out towards the brick buildings and passing pedestrians.

"Well this clearly means we have to perform an investigation. Detective Narukami...that's your last name right, I forgot (Yu nodded). Great, Detective Narukami, it's time we get some answers to this mystery." Naoya began walking in a random direction with a noticeable pep in his step, determined to accomplish whatever goal he set.

Yu smiled at Naoya's enthusiasm towards their shared curiosity, but that smile quickly vanished as Yu watched him walk away. ' _Potential ally or not, I'm not going to let that little remark on the train go unnoticed. Naoya, I will figure out just who you really are!'_ He straightened himself out and jogged towards the speed walking Naoya.

To say he was bewildered would be the understatement of the century. At the moment, Yu found himself seated next Naoya at a Ramen Shop located in the shopping district of Hirasaka. They had managed to find bus earlier after Naoya got them lost in the Yumezaki ward. They didn't necessarily know where the bus was going to take them, but then again, they didn't know much about the city in the first place.

The Ramen Shop (Shiraishi Ramen if he recalled correctly) was small, quaint and very underpopulated. Besides him and Naoya, there were only a few (from what he could infer from their clothing) detectives on their breaks and the owner of the shop. She was a smoker that looked to be in her late forties; she always seemed to be squinting, as if she were searching for something or was suspicious of everything.

"Now this is a menu I could get behind; I mean they got it all! From Shoyu to Char Siu Ramen, it's anything you could ask for! What's the first thing you're going to order?" Naoya was enamored with the options of food at his disposal. Yu gave him a questioning look.

"What happened to investigating the city?" Naoya looked at him, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

"How far can we get without being distracted by the unbridled pain of an empty stomach?" It was at this point, that Yu finally understood attempting to contest Naoya would only lead to self-doubt. "Now I'm getting the Miso, what are you deciding on?" With a sigh, Yu looked back down to the menu. He was right, there was a lot to order from here. He took a moment to look through his options and stopped when he spotted something weird.

"Banana ramen? That sounds gross." This earned Naoya's attention, he snatched Yu's menu from him and observed it deeply.

"Who in their right mind would order something as disgusting as this?! I mean, ramen with banana? Who's twisted idea was this?!"

"That'd be me." Naoya and Yu both looked up at the person who just spoke. There, staring them down was the shop owner, cigarette in her mouth and voice laced with poison.

"You got something to say about my restaurant?" She was intimidating, her presence easily instilled fear into the hearts of the duo. Naoya audibly gulped out of fear, looking towards Yu for guidance. He only received a look that begged for help. He turned back to the owner before speaking up.

"N-not at all ma'am. In fact, my associate and I were just getting ready to leave this very fine establishment... isn't that right?" Yu nodded his head vigorously, eager to leave before this woman killed them.

There was a pregnant silence in the room before the owner grunted in approval and turned back to whatever she was doing. Naoya stood up, grabbed Yu by the shoulder and ran out of the restaurant, not daring to look back.

"That was a close call. Sorry about back there, I guess I just can't keep my mouth shut."

Now they found themselves on the sidewalk, casually making their way to who knows where. Yu nodded Naoya off, giving him a sideways glance.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just glad we're safe for now." He wasn't lying, he had faced a God and solved a murder case, but never before had he ever felt so frightened.

Just what was this place?

"Yeah, you said it." There was a long pause in their conversation before Yu chose to speak again.

"So, what was your life like when you were younger?" Yu looked towards Naoya, hoping to get some answers. Naoya let out a sigh, followed by a chuckle.

"Alright, so you want to know more about me then, huh? Ok, I'll humor you for a bit." Naoya stopped and sat at a nearby bench, motioning for Yu to sit beside him. Of course, Yu followed, wanting to hear about his past. Naoya looked up and began to reminisce.

"I'll start with my days in—hey look, what's that?" Naoya interrupted himself, pointing into the distance. Yu looked visibly frustrated, there's no way in hell he'd fall for this trick.

"Hilarious, now please back to the story." Yu went to place a hand on Naoya's shoulder but he was too fast. Naoya quickly stood and then made a mad dash across the street, making a beeline for a very fancy schoolyard.

"Whoa wait!" Yu yelled out, chasing Naoya with vigor. A few seconds later Yu caught up to Naoya, mildly aggravated. "You know; we won't be able to move on with this 'investigation' if you keep getting distracted by every little thing!"

"Oh, but that's the thing Yu, with this discovery, we might just find out what Sumaru City really is!" Naoya turned to face Yu, face shining with glee. "I present to you the answer to our problem: Seven Sisters High!" It took Yu a moment to process what was going on.

They were going to find answers…. In a school?

"We're going to find answers…. In a school?" Speaking out loud what he just thought to himself.

"Yes, now let's go! Solutions await!" With that, Naoya ran off into the building, leaving a confused Yu behind.

Yu shook his head and smiled, he'd be lying if he said Naoya didn't amuse him at all.

' _This was going to be interesting, maybe we'll both get the answers we seek.'_ He began to walk into the school when a blue butterfly flew in front of him.

"Huh, a blue butterfly; and quite beautiful too." Yu extended his arm for the butterfly to flutter onto his hand. Slowly, it landed onto his fingertips and faced him directly. "What are you doing here little guy?" Yu placed his other hand on the butterfly to attempt to pet him.

And that's when it happened.

The moment he touched it, an all too familiar rush of nausea slammed into him. Yu staggered backwards, clutching his suddenly aching head. But just as suddenly as the wave of sickness hit him, it disappeared.

"Just what in the hell was that?" He looked around for the butterfly only to notice that it had vanished from his sight. It must have flown off shortly after Yu reeled back. He still found it strange for something like that to have happened out of the blue like that.

The last time he felt like that was when….

Shaking off the thoughts, Yu walked forwards into the school, hoping he hadn't lost Naoya.

He failed to notice the man with a mask watching him in the distance.

* * *

By the time Yu had found Naoya, he had already explored half of the school. When asked what took him so long to get in, Yu simply told him that somebody asked him for some help. Naoya gave him a weird look, before shrugging it off and moving onwards.

They toured the school for what seemed like hours, entering different classrooms, the janitor's room (they were both confused as to why the Janitor had such a homely place to stay at a school of all places), and even went back outside to the schoolyard.

Eventually, they found themselves on the third floor of the school.

"Anyways, I'm getting some weird vibes from this school, and not cause it's basically empty. Like, I can feel it in my very soul." Naoya stopped and but a hand to his chest, as if to add dramatic effect. But his face was still and serious.

"I kind of see what you mean, like a sense of familiarity here. It's pretty strong too, almost nauseating in fact." The atmosphere around them was tense, it was quiet and it felt as if they were almost waiting for something to just magically appear.

"Hey!" Yu jumped a little while Naoya gave out a, rather feminine scream. They quickly pivoted towards the source of the voice.

"What are you two doing here?" There stood a woman who seemed to be in her mid-thirties. Her hair was dark blue, so dark that it could be easily mistaken as black, although both Yu and Naoya could notice a very minute amount of greying hairs. She was wearing a white blouse tucked into a yellow skirt, all the while holding a yellow coat over her shoulder with her right hand. She gave off a friendly aura but her face at the moment seemed to say otherwise.

She took a step forward, she looked at the two men in front of her, raising an eyebrow at their appearances. She turned towards Yu first.

"You, I'd be able to recall a head of hair like that, you don't attend this school do you?" It took a moment for Yu to register what she just said before he quickly shook his head and looked downwards.

"Hmm, I figured as much, though you don't seem hostile." With that, she looked towards Naoya, who seemed to look just as solemn as she did. They looked towards each other with looks that could pierce Yu's very soul. There was an elephant in the room before they both seemed let out a hearty laugh.

"You look like you haven't changed a bit, Naoya!" She walked towards Naoya and pulled him into a tight hug. One that he reciprocated almost immediately.

"I can't say the same to you Ms. Saeko, the years have treated you well." His voice carried a genuine air to it, making Yu assume that he was on good terms with this woman. They pulled away, before Naoya spoke again.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was louder than usual, but innocently curious. The woman (Yu recalled Naoya called her Ms. Saeko), slapped Naoya on the back of the face while chuckling at his question.

"What the hell kind of question is that? You know I got transferred here years ago. And to somebody who isn't my student, it's Takami and not Ms. Saeko. You're making me feel old." Yu heard Naoya mutter something along the lines of 'You're tellin' me.'

Naoya turned towards Yu, a large grin stuck on his face. "Yu, I'd like you to meet one of my old teachers and closest friends, Ms. Sae—uh, I mean Takami!" Yu looked in her direction, extending his arm for a handshake.

Ms. Saeko, returned the action, smiling all the while. "It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"Ah please, the pleasure's mine kid. Don't take offense to the hair bit earlier, I actually like it, it's fresh." Yu blushed slightly at her compliment.

"But anyways, what are you guys doing here? School's out, there's nothing interesting here."

Naoya spoke up. "Ah, we were in the area and decided to have a quick tour of the school. Heard good things about it so we decided, 'why not', y'know?" Naoya turned towards Yu. "Ain't that right?"

"Uh, yeah, I actually know a couple of people from this school and I wanted to see what it was like." He lied. He hoped that it would've fooled her, but Ms. Saeko seemed like a woman wise beyond her years.

True to his thoughts, Ms. Saeko gave them both a look that seemed like she wasn't buying a word either of them said. However, she merely shrugged, seemingly not caring about their true intentions, brushing them off as good people.

"Well, you never gave me a reason to distrust you Naoya so I'm sure you'll be fine, but for old time's sake, be careful alright?" With that, she turned on her heel and walked back towards the stairs. Naoya let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in, wiping imaginary sweat off of his forehead.

"You alright over there?" Naoya looked towards Yu, flashing him a grin and giving him a thumbs up.

"Yeah man, I'm fine. It's just that…. She never fails to get me so scared. You ever know somebody like that? Who just easily leaves you shaking in your shoes?" Yu put a finger to his chin at the question. He let out a small hum as he looked upwards.

"Nope can't say that I do."

"Ah well, I guess it's just me. Never mind that, let's get back to what we were doing."

"Right."

"Alright, we've pretty much covered every inch of the entire school and there ain't much up here to gawk at."

"You're right. Maybe if we-," Yu stopped talking as suddenly, there was an intense pressure in the air that surrounded him. Naoya seemed to feel it too as he immediately straightened up and became serious almost instantaneously. The hallway felt almost hot due to how much pressure was being exerted.

Naoya and Yu turned their heads to where they assumed it was coming from.

"The clock tower." They both announced, looking towards each other in shock, before shaking their heads and walking to the door that lead to the clock tower.

When they opened the door, the pressure that they felt seemed to intensify to near maddening levels before subsiding almost instantly. Yu and Naoya both looked around searching for the source only to see a man standing on a gear.

His back was facing them, but he had what appeared to be black hair tied up into a ponytail. He was wearing a black turtleneck that matched his black pants and shoes. Slowly he turned around, and let Naoya and Yu have a good look at the golden butterfly mask that covered most of his face sans the bottom right and his eyes.

"You're…" Naoya started.

"Philemon…" Yu finished. The name just rolled off of his tongue easily. As if he had known him for years. But from what he knew, Yu never met this man in his life.

Or so he thought.

"We meet again, Naoya, Yu." From what little of his mouth was showing, they could tell that he was smiling ever so slightly. He had an invisible aura that could be easily sensed by the two of them. He seemed like he meant no harm, but that didn't mean that he couldn't eradicate them before they realized it.

"What going on? If you're here, then that means that trouble shouldn't be far behind." Naoya spoke. He sounded curious, yet Yu felt a bit of venom from his voice.

Philemon chortled slightly. "You're quick to catch on, of course you are, it's why you're one of the chosen." Yu turned towards Naoya, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"One of….the chosen?" he asked. Naoya sighed, and then stood straight.

"Yu, I didn't want you to find out like this. But I, like you, am a Persona-user. I have been for years in fact. It's how I was able to see you had the potential within you as well when we first met."

"A Persona-user?" Of course! That had to be the aura that he got from him, it just had to be. How didn't he figure it out sooner? He said, that he'd had the potential for years now, so that raised the question: how adept was he at using it?

"Yes, the person you see before you is what granted me that power, and you as well"

"Him? N-no, I received this power from somebody else. I received it from-" he was cut off.

"Izanami, correct?" Yu nodded. "Wrong. If you recall, she told you that you always had it within you. She just gave you…"

"A little push." Yu looked down into his hand and opened it. Soon, a tarot card formed within it. Out of shock, Yu jumped back, it had been so long since he had used it, and even more so, he was able to form a card in the real world.

Philemon's smile faded and he looked at both of them. "I'll cut to the chase as it appears we've not much time to spare. I need you once more, the both of you."

"What for?" Naoya asked. He took a step forward, but then stopped when he realized that any further and he could've fell.

"There's something powerful and deadly approaching the Earth. Something stronger than anything you've ever faced before and the only people who stand a chance of eliminating it are my chosen guests." Yu took this chance to speak.

"Just what is this thing you speak of?" Philemon looked at Yu, smiling once more.

"His name is Nyarlathotep. He's my other half. Long ago, he was banished to parts unknown to those of your kind BY those of your kind. In fact, one of them was also chosen guest. However, he's returned, with power that seems to surpass mine."

"So what makes you think that us two can take him out?!" Naoya yelled. He seemed like he wasn't too trusting of Philemon at the moment.

At this, Philemon let out a hearty laugh that seemed to shake the entire building, or that's what it felt like to Yu.

"Funny, I don't recall saying you were the only two I chose to request help from." He snapped his fingers and the door that Yu and Naoya entered from flashed with a magnificent light. Yu had to shield his eyes while Naoya just tilted his head to the left ever so slightly. When they looked back, the door was a bright blue with an intricate engraving on it.

"The Velvet Door." Naoya commented.

"Yes, you two, I beg that you choose to join my cause, for I fear that if you don't, then the universe will fall to his might." Yu looked towards Philemon, he just had one more thing to ask.

"What about Earth?" Philemon's mouth turned downwards.

"I'm afraid that we can't save it from his wrath?"

"What do you mea-" it was as if he just couldn't finish a good sentence today to save his life. The high school soon begun to shake violently, the gears that Philemon was standing on began to break apart and fall, forcing him to float towards the platform they were on.

In the sky above them, the sun was suddenly blocked out by large, ominous clouds. The whole Earth seemed to be rumbling as an immense energy built up from the center of the city. Instantly, a blood red light appeared from the sky and then exploded, decimating almost everything in its path.

"There's no time, he's here! Quickly, through the door, now!" They didn't have to be told twice with what was going on. Yu and Naoya made a mad dash for the door. Yu grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, only for both of them to be engulfed by light.

* * *

 **Hehehe, two birds with one stone. Or, two guests with one door...hmmm. Anyways, that two down and two to go.**

 **Critique is always welcome and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Sun**

 **\- Reviews**

 **Dan the Butcher: Thank you for your interest! As much as I want to include the P5 Protagonist I feel it'll be a poor choice for me since the game isn't a thing yet. Who knows, maybe in the future I might change my mind. If you want a story that includes the main cast from every Persona game, then I recommend a story called 'Persona QQQ'. It's Persona Q with every character from Personas 1-4 instead of just 3 and 4. It's looking to be pretty great so far! Give it a read when you have the time.**

 **Tyrandale: And you're very welcome. As for the next chapter, here it is!**

 **Rainandsky415: I'm glad to see that you're liking it so far! To answer your question: yes, yes it does.**

 **Extraneous: Hey check it out, I've actually updated rather quickly. This is clearly an omen, watch the world end come New Year's Day. Probably shouldn't be saying that, but ah well.**

 **Onwards to the story!**

* * *

It was routine.

He would wake up before the sun itself rose from beneath the horizon, get dressed in something comfortable, gear up with his best weapons and leave for the outskirts of the City. He would do this every day, never straying away from the pattern.

That is what made it routine, after all.

Today was no different. Before the sun rose, he got out of bed rubbing his tired eyes and yawning loudly. He shook his head and put on his clothes; he sported a red motorcycle outfit with the hood preferably off. A large black 'X' covered the front. He walked towards his closet and slowly opened it to the sight of dozens of weaponry hanging on the wall, leaning against it, or just lying on the floor.

He pondered for a moment, wondering which weapon he should take before finally deciding on a regular katana. He snatched it from the closet and placed it in a holster on his back. He turned towards his door, grabbing his helmet from atop his coat hanger. He opened his door and proceeded down the stairs, it was still dark out but he had no trouble finding his way to the sidewalk.

Eventually, he reached his motorcycle, putting the helmet on and straddling his ride like he would every other time. He revved up the engine, the motorcycle purring loudly in response. He sighed, he may be used to this life, but that didn't mean he liked it one bit.

It's natural to live with this much regret, right?

The streets of Sumaru City were silent as he rode through it. The only noise coming from his motorcycle roaring through the streets. He was on his way to the city walls that were built as a small defense from the outside forces of the world; or, what was left of it. He scrunched up his face from within his helmet. He couldn't count how many times he wondered to himself just where he'd be if he had chosen to forget everything and start anew. Maybe he could be with his friends, maybe he wouldn't be stuck in the post-apocalyptic world. Maybe…

Maybe he'd be happy.

He groaned inwardly, he always banished those thoughts from his mind almost immediately. Marking them all off as selfish and useless thoughts, they had no place in this world and only served to get him distracted and injured…or worse. He leaned forward into his motorcycle, the sun beginning to rise behind him, right on time as always. He quickened his pace, attempting to reach the wall as soon as possible, wanting to get this day over with.

Eventually, he pulled to a stop having finally reached his destination. He took off his helmet and looked towards the sky. The sun was still relatively low in the sky, good, he was here on time as usual. He stepped off his bike and walked towards the wall. He craned his neck and faced upwards, the wall was incredibly tall, roughly one-hundred and fifty feet if he recalled correctly. In front of him was set of blast doors, doors that he himself demanded be placed. It was to permit movement in and out of the protective walls. Next to him was a guard post, said post's guard was inside reading a magazine. He jumped when he heard a knock on his window, he jerked his head upwards to the source of the noise and quickly cleared his throat.

"Ah Tatsuya, my apologies. Here, I'll open the doors," he turned his head downwards in search of something. He found what he was looking for, a dark red button at the edge of the control panel. He pushed down on it, and then turned his head back towards the blast doors. The man he was talking to was already in front of them, once more sitting on his motorcycle

"As usual, I'll let the night guard know to open the doors for you first thing Tatsuya!" The guard yelled out hoping to catch his attention. The man called 'Tatsuya' revved up the engine to his motorcycle once again and sped through the now open blast doors, but not before raising his left hand and giving a thumbs up in approval to what the guard said.

It'd be like last time and every time before it. Patrol and protect the outside of the wall from any demons that dared to break through and go back inside the city later on that day. Some days there would be swarms of enemies already waiting for him outside and others would go by with him barely encountering any demons. On the days where he would rarely encounter any, the few he did face would almost always be a slight challenge, yet still nothing he couldn't handle.

He didn't know how long he was riding for before he found a pack of five demons lurking too close to the wall. He halted his bike and stepped off, unsheathing his katana and getting into a fighting stance. The noise his bike made upon his arrival seemed to alert the pack as they all faced him, fangs bared. They took the shape of soot black hounds with red eyes. They were on all fours; their fur was mangled making them look no less like a pack of wild wolves. They could've been mistaken as such had Tatsuya been a regular man.

But he wasn't just a regular man.

The aura they had was permeating the air around him, making him scrunch up his nose from within the helmet. They also reeked of blood, no doubt from a few other demons roaming around the area. Demons were highly territorial and even more so decisive, he stopped making pacts with them after a while, finding that most of them betrayed him in the long run. Alerting his presence to more in the area, or attempting to attack him while his back was turned.

Tatsuya inched forward, these demons looked weak and they felt weak too. Pity, he was hoping for some bit of fun. They growled and barked at him, almost warning him to back off; he didn't yield to them. In the blink of an eye, they charged at him all at once. One attempted to take a bite at his throat but he anticipated that. Quickly, he spun to the left, making a full turn back to the hound as he brought his katana down on it, effectively splitting it in half. He jerked his head to the left, catching sight of two more demons trying to tackle him to the ground. Tatsuya somersaulted over them, landing gracefully on his feet. Rapidly turning around and throwing out an open hand at them.

"Agi!" he yelled. His hand produced a spark, before a small blast of fire flew at the two demons. It hit its target, engulfing the demons in bright flames. They loudly howled in pain, eventually ceasing all noise as they were burnt to a crisp. Tatsuya stood up straight looking at what was left of the demons as they slowly deformed into a black puddle of ichor. Before he knew it, Tatsuya was tackled to the ground by another hound, grunting in irritation as his katana fell from his hand. It was salivating profusely as it began to bark at his helmet. Tatsuya grabbed both halves of its jaw with his hands, irritated at the fact that it was fogging up his view. He squeezed hard and with little effort, ripped it in half. Blood poured down onto his mask, making Tatsuya click his tongue in vexation. He quickly got up and wiped the glass clean. Turning his attention towards the last hound, Tatsuya picked his katana up from the ground where he was tackled and infused it with fire. The hound leapt at him and Tatsuya charged forward, before it could even touch him, Tatsuya thrust his flaming katana forward aiming for its chest. His aim was true as it impaled the beast.

The demon jerked about as it was impaled, howling as the life drained from its body. Tatsuya pulled his katana from its body, wiping off the blood with his gloved hand. He placed it back in its sheath as he walked back to his bike. Another ordinary encounter dealt with.

* * *

Hours later, Tatsuya found himself once more riding around the wall looking for something to kill. The encounter he had earlier was the only would he had so far as there had been barely any demons roaming around. Any others that he saw quickly fled in the direction opposite of the wall, granted he didn't mind, but he was starting to get bored. He was on edge and he couldn't tell why. He suddenly halted his movement and took off his helmet, looking upwards at the setting sun. It was beginning to get late, which meant that it was almost time for him to return. He shrugged his shoulders, another day dealt with. Just before he put going to put his helmet back on, Tatsuya ceased all movement. Then in the blink of an eye, he quickly leapt from his motorcycle before a blast of energy collided with it, causing it to explode.

Tatsuya landed on his side and looked at his precious bike as it exploded in a ball of fire. He let out a deep growl from his throat, whoever caused this was not going to escape intact. He slowly got up and looked in the direction the blast came from, there stood two samurai, facing him with a dark killing intent. Tatsuya drew his blade and engulfed it in a bright fire, they were going to pay dearly, he was sure of it. With a roar, Tatsuya charged at them he intended to make them hurt. The first samurai responded in turn, dashing at Tatsuya and slashed. Their bladed met in the center with a large 'clink!'

Tatsuya almost had to squint his eyes due to how close he was to his blazing sword. It seemed that he was at a standstill with the demon samurai, then suddenly the second one kicked him down to the ground. Quick to react, Tatsuya placed his right hand on the ground and pushed himself backwards and landed on his feet. Both samurai slammed their swords into the ground and then dragged them forwards before pulling them out and unleashing a torrent of flames gunning for Tatsuya.

However, he just stood there with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Tatsuya didn't move as he was engulfed in a large torrent of flames reaching high into the sky. The samurai, thinking that their opponent was dead, sheathed their words and moved forward hoping to consume what was left. But then suddenly, the torrent dispersed violently and in the center stood Tatsuya with a large man floating behind him.

Tatsuya tilted his head to the side, "Immunity to fire, try something better next time." He pointed at them, grin still on his face before he spoke. "Apollo, Freila!" Tatsuya snapped his fingers and the floating man behind him moved his arms to his center, his hands forming a triangle. Below them, the Earth began to rumble violently indicating that something big was going to happen. Instinctively, the samurai took a step back hands on their sheathed swords, in front of them Tatsuya chuckled to himself. "Whatever you think you're doing, you might as well quit now, your deaths are inevitable!"

Then, the rumbling stopped and silence filled the air. The samurai looked around them seeing nothing out of place, then they unsheathed their swords and made a dash towards Tatsuya. But then out of nowhere, a large explosion occurred where they were at, effectively eviscerating them immediately. Tatsuya stood still, no longer smiling as his hair bellowed rapidly in the wind caused by the explosion. When the dust settled, there was nothing left of the demons except scorched Earth where they stood.

"Tch, waste of my time," Tatsuya turned on his heel looking back at the rubble that was his destroyed motorcycle. He was rather far from the entrance to the city. If he walked now, he'd be there in an hour tops. His helmet was destroyed in the blast as well so he had nothing covering his face. Shrugging his shoulders and sheathing his katana once more, he started the long trek back.

He walked for a good forty minutes when he began to realize that it had gone dark. He quickened his pace as the demons were more wild at night, often roaming in large packs. Though they were usually on the weaker side they made up for it with large numbers and more frenzied attacks. He thought about how he'd be back by now if he still had his bike, but it was long gone. Another project he'd have to put on his to do list.

"Quite the night out isn't it?"

Tatsuya halted his walking head jerking up at the voice that spoke to him. He spun around, searching for whoever was out here with him. "Who goes there? Show yourself!" He demanded, calling out to the person that just spoke to him.

"You've grown, Tatsuya." Tatsuya turned around quickly, greeted by a face he wasn't all too keen on looking at right now.

"YOU!" Tatsuya dashed at the man who was looking at him, anger fueling his body as he pulled back a fist and threw it forward. Just before it connected, the man vanished, causing Tatsuya to fall flat on his face and reappeared behind him.

"Now, I wouldn't call that a proper hello." Tatsuya stood back up and brushed the dust off of his clothes. He growled in anger, he was not in the mood for this shit!

"What the hell do you want with me, Philemon?!" Tatsuya made another fist, this one was covered in flames. He prepared himself to strike again, this time not planning on missing.

"Tatsuya, just listen to me," Philemon pleaded, hoping to get through to him. Tatsuya charged, yelling in frustration as he aimed for Philemon once more. Anticipating this, Philemon grabbed Tatsuya's wrist before it made contact. "I mean no harm."

"And why the hell should I believe you? You're the reason I'm in this shitty world! You're the reason why everything is like it is now you bastard!" Tatsuya's voice was loud, eyes glowed with the fire of pure rage.

"Am I?" Philemon responded calmly. "Am I really the reason why you chose to stay on this side? I gave you a proper ultimatum, all you had to do as forget about this world and you would have been fine. You would be on the Other Side, living like a normal human." Philemon let go of Tatsuya's wrist and surprisingly, Tatsuya stepped backwards. "I did what you asked for, I gave Maya a life like you wanted. All you had to do was forget, but you chose not to. Is this my fault, or is it yours?"

"I-I, y-you…" Tatsuya was stuttering on his words, almost heeding Philemon's words. "Grr, shut up! Nothing you say is relevant to me!" He spun on his heel and proceeded to walk back on his original path.

"It's Nyarlathotep, Tatsuya. He's returned." Tatsuya stopped, his head lowered. He turned back towards Philemon.

"What did you say?" Tatsuya approached him once more. His face scrunched up in a mixture of anger and curiosity.

"You heard me. Nyarlathotep has returned from his banishment, and he's aiming for the Other Side; I fear I cannot stop him this time. He has grown powerful, more powerful than you can currently imagine," Philemon explained. Tatsuya appeared to have simmered down a bit. He was at a loss for words, his greatest enemy, returning and even stronger than before?

"No, I don't believe you and even then, why don't you form some new kiddie group to do your dirty work for you?" Philemon stared at Tatsuya, the small part of his mouth not covered by his mask in a thin line.

"Because you and I both know that there isn't time for that, Tatsuya."

"…. So, what makes you think that I can take him on by myself, huh?" Tatsuya still seemed to be irritated with Philemon even existing so close to him, but at the moment he seemed to be less lethal.

"You won't be doing it by yourself. There will be others, others like you Tatsuya."

"Define 'others'," Tatsuya stepped back, giving Philemon a questioning glare. Philemon chuckled and stepped to the side moving his arms behind his back, the visible part of his mouth curving upwards into a smile.

"Step through the door and find out." When he finished speaking, a burst of bright light appeared, causing Tatsuya to shield his eyes with his right arm. When he moved his arm, his eyes widened at the bright blue door that appeared in front of him.

"The Velvet Door…," Tatsuya looked at Philemon's still form. Then he looked backwards at the empty desert. He could just leave if he wanted to, he doubted Philemon would do anything. He looked back at the door.

' _A chance to get away from this… this hell. But, do I really want to help this bastard again?'_

"Well," Philemon spoke up, "are you going to choose?" Tatsuya looked down at his feet for a moment, then closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He could go back to his life of guarding the city, protector of Sumaru. If he went with Philemon (which he still wasn't happy about seeing), then… well, there's no telling what would happen. But deep down, he knew what he had to choose.

"I'll…. I'll do it. I'll help you get rid of Nyarlathotep," Tatsuya voiced having finally made up his mind.

"I knew you'd choose right Tatsuya, I always believed in you." Tatsuya stepped forward and grasped the handle on the door. He twisted it and then looked at Philemon.

"But that doesn't mean I'll be enjoying myself in the slightest." With that, he opened the door with renewed vigor and was engulfed in blinding light.

* * *

 **Tatsuya of the Sun Arcana has chosen to join the cause, albeit reluctantly. That's three down, there's only one left!**

 **Critique is always welcome and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Seriously, more favorites and follows than reviews. But who am I to complain?**

 **Stay Golden!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Universe**

 **A little late on the come up, but Happy New Year Guys and Gals! May it be filled with infinite greatness and other stuff that makes you happy.**

 **On a completely unrelated note, I actually got the chance to play Undertale…. I gotta say, it ain't bad. Not my favorite game ever, but it's pretty fun.**

 **In the previous chapter it was shown that Tatsuya agreed to work with Philemon once more (albeit not really wanting to). I should also note that Tatsuya's chapter took place before Yu and Naoya's. This chapter will take place during the second half of 'The Kingpin and the Emperor: Part II', and you'll see how the ending of that chapter ties in here.**

 **Let the chapter commence.**

* * *

The Sea of Souls.

Never before had she ever laid her eyes upon someplace so… divine.

To call it beautiful would be a vast understatement. She would be mendacious if she said that she simply imagined it to appear bland, but to imagine herself in the exact place would be a completely different story.

Margaret observed her surroundings for a long while. Innumerable amounts of stars made of the Sea near and far. Bright nebulae stretched far beyond her vision and even the space between was an aesthetically pleasing purple from the immense light shining in the Sea. Here is where the souls of all living beings slumbered.

She was here on a request from her master and as such she could not waste any time as it could be seen as defiance on her part. Although, she still had yet to learn of just why her master sent her on this quest. For him to demand her to find her sister after never once worrying for her well-being after she left; it just wasn't right to Margaret.

However, it would be a cold day in hell before she would openly admit that to Igor.

She was getting distracted. Shaking her head and then steeling herself, Margaret turned on her heel and began walking on… well nothing really. She could not here the clicking of her heels as the ground she was stepping on was essentially non-existent, and yet, she seemed to move easily and fault. Margaret closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she walked, focusing on a distinct aura that she was certain was nearby. Margaret's hold on her compendium tightened, her face scrunching up as her concentration intensified.

Then she felt it.

Margaret's eyes opened, a smirk appearing on her flawless face. "So there you are," Margaret mused as she located what, or more so, **who** she was looking for. The smile on her face didn't fade as she quickened her pace, never looking back.

* * *

Here she was once more.

Both hands on her compendium, she looked upwards and smiled. Towering in front of her was a bright, golden door. The bottom of the door was covered by a golden mist, mist that seemed to have no source. The door had a number of beautiful and unidentifiable engravings, but that wasn't what drew her attention to it.

Near the top of the door was a stone statue of what looked like a boy in his teens, positioned to look crucified as both arms were stretched outwards to his sides, his entire body covered in barbed wire that stretched to the edges of the large golden door. It looked as if it was made to act as a barrier between outside forces and the door itself, despite the statue being the size of a normal human.

She gazed at the stone boy, still smiling widely. Her platinum blonde hair laying at the sides of her face. The mist moving slowly past her causing her blue dress to bellow in the nonexistent wind. Her boots remained silent despite her shuffling in place for a second, pondering what to say before something came to mind.

"I wonder if you ever get bored here." Her voice carried an air of innocence to it, making it seem as if she truly thought about that question. "Are you even aware of outside events in this state?" Her smile was unwavering, her chest rising and falling in steady breaths. "Can you even recollect your life before you became this seal, my guest?"

Elizabeth stood still as if waiting for a response, only to receive one in the form of silence. Her eyes moved up higher, as if attempting to gaze on her own forehead. "Oh my, it would appear I have forgotten to remove my hat." She giggled as she took it off of her head and held it in her left hand. "I do recall you telling me that you preferred me without it."

"…"

Elizabeth still held her head high. Her gaze hardened and her smile widened; her confidence was unwavering. Her innocent smile turned into an apologetic one. "I've yet to give up hope for you." Her grip on her hat tightened, her knuckles turning white beneath her blue gloves. "Your friends, they too are playing their roles greatly. Along with the younger users, your sacrifice has yet to be in vain."

Elizabeth opened her compendium to a random, blank page. Out of thin air, a tarot card appeared from the tome. On it was the image of a walking man holding a bindle, behind him was a dog at his heels seemingly walking with him. The card had a large number zero on it in pure white. Her eyes lit up, "The Fool Arcana, but more importantly the number zero. Representing nothingness and yet it is also undefined and therefore boundless. My journey, just what could this mean?"

She stood there for a long while, before she was taken out of her thoughts be a voice.

"At last, I've finally found you." Elizabeth recognized the voice, she chose not to turn as she knew who was there.

"I would sooner expect the moon itself to fall than find you outside of the Velvet Room," Elizabeth mused. "What would be the reason that caused you to venture to the edge of the Sea of Souls?" The voice behind her tittered at the question.

"I am not here on my own accord, rather, on a request from our Master."

"If he wishes for me to return to my duties, then I must politely decline. I've yet to finish what I've started, in fact, I believe I've just begun." Elizabeth turned around, putting her hat back on and facing the person behind her. She extended her left hand out in front of her and opened it, the card representing the Fool Arcana once more appeared. "I believe I showed you this before, dearest sister." Margaret emotionlessly stared back at her, humming in approval to Elizabeth. "Then you are knowledgeable on why I choose not to return yet."

Margaret observed where they were, taking note of the golden door towering over them. She didn't need to squint her eyes to see the stone boy near the top. She pointed upwards at it, "That boy..." was all she said. Elizabeth turned back to the door and her grin widened once more.

"Ah yes, this is the fate that my first guest has chosen for himself." Elizabeth said, matter-of-factly.

"So all of those tales that you told me were entirely true then." Elizabeth turned at this, giving Margaret a confused look.

"But of course, why would they not? Did you not believe me?" She genuinely asked, voice sounding as if she was attempting to sound hurt.

"It is just that—never mind. Elizabeth, I need you to return, something is going to happen and Master Igor has requested that you return for the time being." Margaret sounded serious, Elizabeth's smile turned into a frown.

"If it is a matter so dire that I must return, then do you mind informing me of what it may be?" Elizabeth had a smug look on her face, having a feeling that Margaret would not be able to answer properly.

"I too have yet to be informed as to just why exactly I was sent to find you, Master Igor just warned me that your goals will be affected by our own, Elizabeth. It would behoove you to just for once, listen to me and come back." Margaret stared at Elizabeth, her eyes showing the clear annoyance she was feeling having to deal with her sister's naivety once more. Elizabeth still held her smug look and cocky grin. She opened her mouth to speak once again, but then closed it quickly, eyes turning into slits as she opened her compendium.

Margaret, seeing this as a challenge, stepped back and had her compendium float in front of her. Her long platinum blonde hair began to flow wildly as she started to slowly rise upwards and then float in place. "Elizabeth, I warn you, this is something that you **do not** wish to try." Elizabeth, still in a defensive stance, looked at Margaret in the eyes.

"Fret not sister, I do not wish to face you in battle once more. However, I will still partake in a fight with something else." At that, Margaret lowered herself to the ground and grabbed her compendium from the air, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Just what do you— "suddenly, there was a violent rumbling and Margaret's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't tell if it was in shock over how she didn't know what was going on or how her younger sister suddenly started to smile once again.

Margaret spun on her heels almost instantly. Behind her (or below her, she couldn't necessarily tell), a creature of gigantic proportions began to mold together at an alarming rate. It was a beast with a head on either side of its body. It faces consisted of two abnormally large horns and bright red eyes. Its mouths were entirely made of bone, with nothing covering the grotesque smile it wore on both faces. It rose from where it came, towering greatly over Margaret and Elizabeth; and in great steps, strode to the large golden door. Since it was standing over the two sisters, Margaret was given the chance to look at its bottom, or rather, the lack of a bottom. Its stomach looked as if it had been ripped open or had never been completed, however, that was not important right now.

"That is…" Margaret started. Elizabeth, still smiling, spoke in her stead.

"That is the grand manifestation of mankind's grief and malice, Erebus. My guest sacrificed his soul to seal the Goddess of Death to keep it from coming in contact with this behemoth, as it would result in the end of his world."

"But to achieve what he did, it would require a near infinite amount of power, just how did he accomplish such a feat?" Margaret asked.

"Of course. He, with the help of Igor— "

"Master Igor," Margaret was quick to correct her sister.

"—gained the power of the Universe and saved his world from certain demise. To this day, I still find myself impressed by his power." Above them, Erebus was quick to grab onto the stone boy and try to violently yank him from his chains that bind him to the door. It let out a loud roar in pure rage as it efforts were futile, for the stone boy would not budge. It released the boy and pulled back its arm balling its hand into a fist before ramming it into the door with enough force to cause Margaret to raise her brow in interest.

Elizabeth walked towards Erebus, stooping next to its right hind leg. She raised her left hand and tapped lightly on the leg. "Oh my, it would seem as if you grow larger between each of our encounters. Hopefully, I'll be able to feel a grand level of euphoria from battling you eventually." The beast craned its head towards Elizabeth, roaring in displeasure over her being there. Its fist, still tight flew downwards aiming straight for Elizabeth. Seeing thing coming, she simply raised the tome in her right hand in defense and stopped the punch dead in its tracks. Elizabeth leapt backwards and landed next to Margaret.

"I wish not to cause harm to the Sea, please if you would come with me once more," Elizabeth made to open her compendium, but was halted by her elder sister.

"Worry not sister, no matter what you may do to the beast, you cannot cause any significant harm to the collective unconsciousness," Margaret assured Elizabeth. "Please tell me you were aware of that." Elizabeth looked at Margaret and innocently shrugged her shoulders. She turned back to Erebus, the beast had one arm raised in the air, a large black and red ball of pure energy forming within its raised hand. Its mouth was raised in a large smile as the ball increased in mass. "Oh dear, that does not appear to be good." Elizabeth stated.

"Does this happen often?" Margaret asked, legitimately curious.

"No, I've only allowed it to perform this move once before. I do remember it slightly stinging. However, it looks larger than before and as such I am slightly worried." The ball of energy grew large enough to cause the sisters to crane their heads in order to fully see it, Erebus raised its hand higher into the air, fully intent on slamming the energy ball into them. Just as it was about to send his hand downward…

The ball of energy vanished.

Both Margaret and Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, confused over what didn't happen. Erebus hunched over and begun to violently screech in pure agony. The screams seemed to grow even louder as chunks of its body started to drop to the ground below it, creating pools of black ichor. Margaret was half tempted to cover her ears in annoyance over the large screeches that came from the beast. Elizabeth looked in awe as its body continued to fall apart until finally there was nothing left of Erebus.

"That was new." Elizabeth flat out said.

"What happened to it?" Margaret asked. Elizabeth put a finger to her chin, going over what just happened in her head.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the beat has been slain once more, however, it was the concept of how that eludes me. Normally when I defeat it, it would simply dissipate and vanish. For it to, quite literally, fall apart in front of us is truly a mystery; I can only wonder what this means for the future," Elizabeth said. Margaret hummed in response, she along with her sister was truly at a loss over what had just transpired.

Suddenly, the door in front of them, the golden door began to rumble. The stone boy at the top began to break apart bit by bit until it completely exploded. The chains that kept it still fell loosely and then from the stone boy came a bright ball of energy. It descended towards the avatars of power and stopped in front of Elizabeth, who was purely awestruck over the bright sphere.

"Could this be…" Elizabeth started.

"Yes, in front of you is the soul of Minato Arisato in its purest form." A third voice stated. The voice sounded like it belonged to a boy in his teenage years. Margaret spun around, looking for where the voice came from.

"Who is there?!" She yelled out.

"Oh don't worry, I mean no harm. I was, and still am, essentially Nyx's avatar that had been sealed within the soul that stands in front of you. You do not see me because I can reside in this realm without a body. Erebus is no more and because of that, the Great Seal is no longer needed. Minato is free from his chains, literally."

"You were once sealed within the person this soul belonged to?" Margaret asked.

"Yes, and due to the strength of the bond we once had, I can give him a body once more." The bright sphere floating in front of Elizabeth started to shine even brighter as it expanded greatly, causing Margaret and Elizabeth to cover their eyes from the intense light. The light vanished quickly and the sisters removed their arms from their faces.

There he stood.

In front of them stood a boy who was as tall as Elizabeth. Only one of his eyes were visible as the other was being covered by his blue hair. He seemed to be scanning his surroundings.

"The Sea, could this mean that I'm finally free?" He looked at the two women in front of him. "Elizabeth, I see you're still looking as good as always." He gave her a smug smile.

Margaret grunted in annoyance and looked elsewhere while Elizabeth covered her blushing face with her book. "I do believe I can say the same to you, my dear guest." Minato looked downwards at her words and—

Oh, he was naked.

"My apologies Minato, I must have forgotten about that." The voice spoke again. Minato turned around towards the door, condescendingly glaring at it.

"Gee thanks, you mind fixing that Ryoji?" Minato said. He was engulfed in another bright light as he felt something cover his naked body When the light vanished, Minato found that he was wearing a white dress shirt with a touch of black suspenders and sleeves folded at the wrists and black slacks. On his neck was a yellow scarf, unfortunately, Minato never had a liking for the color yellow.

"How do you like it?" The voice, now known as Ryoji asked. Minato gave a once over to his new clothes, nodding in approval.

"Nostalgic, I like it." He turned back to the sisters, more specifically Margaret. "I don't believe we've had the honor of meeting." Margaret looked at him condescendingly.

"Who I am is currently none of your concern at the moment, I am only here to retrieve Elizabeth."

"'Retrieve'? You make it seem like she's some valuable item."

"Watch your tongue, lest I rip it out of your mouth." Elizabeth took this opportunity to turn to her sister.

"I would appreciate it if you do not speak to my guest with such animosity." Minato crossed his arms triumphantly, not even alive again for five minutes and starting drama, he's still got it. "And you, I would also appreciate it if you treated my elder sister with respect."

"Elder sister? Hmm, well I guess that can serve for a proper introduction for us," Minato said. Margaret turned on her heel and snapped her fingers. In front of her, a golden blue door with beautiful engravings appeared from nowhere.

"Now Elizabeth, I ask you once more to come with me." Elizabeth giggled slightly at her sister.

"Since my guest is now free from his fate as the Seal, I do not see why I cannot return. However, I do request that I take my guest with me." Margaret sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I believe Master Igor would be rather delighted to see this guest of yours once more." At that, Margaret opened the door and proceeded through. The door stayed open for Elizabeth and Minato.

"Before I go, there's just one more thing I have to do." Minato turned around and faced the Golden door. He extended his right arm forward, as if beckoning for something to come through the door to him. "I don't feel complete without you."

The sound of something unlocking could be heard as the door opened and a bright light could be seen from behind it. Then, black mist shot straight out and came straight for Minato, but he stood still, as if he wanted it to engulf him. The mist engulfed only his extended arm and seemed to seep into his skin. From Elizabeth's perspective, she could see Minato smiling as he absorbed the black mist until there was nothing left.

"It seems I once again find myself as a part of you," Ryoji's voice could be heard.

"Good, it feels weird without you here." At that, he looked at Elizabeth and motioned to the door. She nodded her head and walked through with a noticeable spring in her step. Minato took a large breath and then greatly exhaled before walking through the door, being once again engulfed by a bright light.

* * *

 **Kept you waitin' huh?**

 **Minato is finally freed from the Seal and has found his way to the Velvet Room.**

 **But just how did Erebus die without being visibly attacked? If you noticed the note I put in the beginning of the chapter and put two and two together, then you'll know why. The reason will be revealed to Elizabeth and Minato next chapter. Just how will they take it?**

 **Also Margaret isn't necessarily fond of Minato. Why do you think that?**

 **Critique is always accepted and reviews are always nice.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Team Bonding**

 **\- Reviews**

 **AmeYuuki: It has been a moment since I've seen you review; hope you haven't been gone cause of anything bad. Wait no more cause the moment of truth is here.**

 **Guest: Right on the button. Minato's personality also doesn't help that much either.**

 **EternalCombOver: For a robot? You make it sound like we can't do much. Allow me to bring up Aigis' staggering list of achievements. But in all seriousness, thanks, it means a lot coming from you. The guests will meet in this chapter, so you don't have to wait anymore to see what it'll be like. I originally intended to use the Normal Side Tatsuya but decided for the more battle hardened one. As for the fighting… I do hope this chapter is to your liking. College started back up again so I won't be able to update quickly, however my classes are pretty lax so there won't be any huge gaps in between chapters.**

 **Extraneous: This chapter is something that I've been itching to write for a while now! I do hope you guys enjoy it, cause I sure as hell had fun writing it!**

 **Moving along to the story**

* * *

When Naoya came to, he instantly felt his head pounding relentlessly. His eyes opened slowly and the world around him came into focus.

The first thing he noticed was that the 'world' around him was a rather endless blue um… he didn't know what to call it, a void perhaps? He assumed it was the Velvet Room but… why did it look like this? It looked to be endless, the walls and curtains that were normally there weren't. There was only infinite black and blue surrounding him, at least there was a visible floor. He rubbed his eyes and looked forward, taking in the sight of a round, black wooden table. Behind it sat a balding man with bloodshot eyes, a weirdly long nose and an eerily large grin. That man was between two women, one with platinum-blonde hair flowing down past her shoulders and the other with hair of the same color yet it stopped just above her cheeks, most of it covered by a blue attendant hat.

' _Igor I remember… but who're those two girls? I'd be lying if I said they weren't hot,'_ he thought.

"Naoya, you're finally awake," somebody to his left spoke. Naoya turned in the direction the voice was coming from and was greeted by Yu gazing at him with tired eyes.

"Yu you're al—wait whoa, 'finally'? How long have I been out for?" He asked, leaning towards Yu as he tried to press him for an answer. That's when another voice spoke up.

"Long enough to make us thing about tossing you out," it said. Both Yu and Naoya craned their heads towards the source and took in the sight of a blue haired boy letting out a yawn as he stretched his arms. Next to him was a brunette boy leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed. He paid them no mind as he looked like he was deep in thought. "That was the best nap I've taken in a while; these chairs are more comfortable than they look."

Naoya took this chance to look towards Igor, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Hey big guy, when did this place become open to the public? Last I check this place was V.I.P. exclusive."

"Naoya, Philemon did say that we wouldn't be alone. Maybe these are who he was talking about, remember?" Yu said. Naoya looked upwards, vaguely remembering Philemon stating that.

"Oh yeah, I gotcha. So what you're sayin' is… these guys are our backup?"

"Backup?" The blue-haired boy spoke up. "If anybody's going to be backup, it'll be you guys because I intend on getting shit done." Naoya gazed at him with a disappointed frown plastered on his face.

"… Kid, who are you?"

"Uh guys, should we really be fighting?" Yu said, trying to defuse the situation.

"Can it be considered fighting if it's extremely one sided? I believe the proper phrase is 'delaying the inevitable'."

Naoya's face scrunched up in aggravation. "Oh you'd better be able to back up those cocky words later on buddy boy, cause if you can't the-," he was cut off.

"Idiots, all three of you. If this is how you'll spend every moment then by all means, do me a favor and stay out of my way when we leave the Velvet Room!" The brown haired boy yelled out. Everybody turned to him instinctively and saw that he was giving them a gaze that said 'if he could kill them now, then he would.'

"Umm, this wasn't really a good start, was it?" Yu said with a weary smile on his face.

"Gentlemen, I would hope that you would treat your future allies with more respect," Igor finally spoke, breaking the slowly building tension between the boys.

Naoya, Yu and the blue haired boy stopped their useless bickering (despite Yu being the one to try and calm them down) and faced Igor. He was still smiling despite them getting ready to murder each other without any hesitation.

"You four have been gathered at the request of my master due to your vast abilities and fighting prowess. We have all met before so I myself do not need introduction, however, some of you have yet to meet Margaret and Elizabeth."

"To those of you I've yet to be formally introduced to, my name is Margaret, from this moment forth I will be in charge of the weaponry that you require for battle." Her gaze swept over the four boys sitting in front of her and she gave a small grin at the end of her introduction. Next to her, the woman with the short hair grinned wildly and spoke.

"And I am her younger sister Elizabeth. I shall be in charge of your shared Persona Compendium until further notice. Furthermore, I shall offer support for battles from here." She closed her eyes and gave off a small wave as she introduced herself.

"Now that they have been introduced, I do believe that I must further explain the matter of your gathering," Igor said. His smile faded and was replaced by a face filled with sorrow. "An ancient evil has wrought havoc and forced his own influence in place of the peace you four have fought valiantly to protect. The world you knew has been taken over by a world that he deems fit."

"So what you're basically saying is that you want us to take out the big baddy and save the day? Sounds easy enough," the blue haired boy said.

"I am afraid that the task placed upon you is one that cannot be taken lightly under any circumstances. Allow me to elaborate further," Igor replied.

"No please, allow me," another disembodied voice spoke. Besides the center table, a torrent of blue and golden butterflies appeared and then dissipated instantly. From it came a man with a mask on his face shaped to resemble a butterfly.

"Master," Igor said, his smile returning to his visage. He prepared to stand so he could bow, but Philemon waved him off.

"At ease Igor, you need not be so formal at the moment. Right now, I am here for our guests," Philemon spoke. Igor sat back down and remained silent, allowing Philemon the floor. "Hello again my guests, I am sure you have your questions but right now I need to brief you on just what is going on."

"Tch. You think?" The blue haired boy whispered to himself.

"The Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep, my other half has returned from his banishment to the far corners of the universe with a vengeance. He has placed his dark influence on your world, twisting it into some horrid creation beyond your wildest dreams. He has replaced all human life with those of demonic beings."

The blue haired boy leaned forward slightly. "Whoa, there's no more human life on Earth? Absolutely none?" Philemon shook his head in response, causing the boy to lean back into his chair. "That would explain why the Seal would no longer be needed. As there would be nothing to Seal Nyx from…" he muttered. If there really was no human life left on Earth, then that would mean that there couldn't be a grand manifestation of its malice.

No dark thoughts meant no Erebus.

"Correct, moving on. There is yet hope for your planet," Philemon said. At that, everyone focused on him very intently. "Nyarlathotep, during his banishment, succeeded in discovering something that elevated his power far beyond anything you could begin to comprehend: Chaos." Everybody's eyes widened at his announcement. "The primordial void, considered to be the first thing to ever come into existence, is now in Nyarlathotep's grasp," Philemon explained. "At the moment, he could be considered an unstoppable force of raw power, but there is still a chance. He has spread Chaos into seven separate parts and locked them away from the outside world. If you can find those seven parts and perform a spiritual cleansing, effectively returning them from whence they came, then you may yet defeat Nyarlathotep."

"Spiritual Cleansing? You wanna elaborate on how we do that?" Naoya asked. Philemon chuckled at Naoya, causing him to furrow his brows in frustration.

"Do not worry, you shall know when the time is right." Naoya groaned at Philemon and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Of course, still as cryptic as always," Naoya muttered under his breath. Yu patted him on the shoulder for comfort.

"Now I will answer any questions you ask," Philemon offered. The first person to raise their hand was Yu.

"Yes um, the Velvet Room… why is it like this?" He asked as he looked around, wondering if this was even the Velvet Room. Philemon gave him a warm smile and proceeded to give him the answer he desired.

"I am sure that you are aware of the Velvet Room changing appearance in regards to the guest and their respective journey, yes?" Yu nodded his head in response. "Good, due to there currently being more than one guest, the Velvet Room cannot show favor to one person and has since taken on its true form."

"If the Velvet Room's true form is more of a void than a room, then how did it get the name Velvet Ro—ah, y'know what? Don't bother answering that," Naoya said, waving his arms wildly. The blue haired boy next to him raised his hand.

"Will we be able to return to the Velvet Room at will? And if so, how will we be accomplishing that?"

"Of course. In each of your pockets are separate Velvet Keys for future entry. Throughout your journey you will encounter doors that lead into the Velvet Room, use your key like you normally would and you'll find that reentry should not be difficult," Philemon explained. The blue haired boy grunted in approval, satisfied with his answer. The boy with the brown hair spoke up.

"There was mention of a shared 'Persona Compendium', can you elaborate on it?" He asked. Elizabeth nodded her head and showed off a large tome to the four.

"At any time you may register your Persona in this book and, for a fee, may withdraw them back into your arsenal in the same state you registered them in. The Compendium will be shared amongst you to better easier keep tabs on the vast amount of Personae you have the ability summon."

"Ok, since this 'Compendium' is shared between us, I can only assume that we can only use our initial Persona in battle at first," he said.

"That is correct," Elizabeth replied.

"I see, thank you for the explanation."

"Are there any other questions?" He asked. When he received no response, he clasped his hands and spoke once more. "Excellent, now I believe the next course of action would be to introduce yourselves to your teammates." At that, Philemon stepped back and left space for each of them to stand and speak. The first one up was Naoya.

"Alright then I guess I'll start us off." He cleared his throat and stood in front of them. "The name's Naoya, Naoya Toudou. There's not really anything cool I've accomplished in my time with my Persona… I mean, I did manage to defeat a reality destroying deity. Pandora was her name… I think, ah whatever. I hope we can set aside our differences for the greater good!" At that, he sat back down, giving somebody else a chance to speak.

The next one up was the brown haired boy.

"I'm Tatsuya Suou. I'm not from this world, but from a different dimension known as the Other Side. The world there has also been ravaged by Nyarlathotep, due to my past incompetence. I and my friends were the ones to banish Nyarlathotep originally, so being given a second chance at defeating him feels like an opportunity to atone for my sins. I don't doubt the abilities of any of you, but like I previously said, if you wish to act like imbeciles on the battlefield then stay out of my way…" he was silent for a moment. "Or there will be hell to pay." He walked back to his chair and sat back down, waiting patiently for the next person to stand. He didn't even look at the boy next to him rising.

"Well one of us had to be edgy right?" That received a menacing glare from Tatsuya. "But in all seriousness, I'm Minato Arisato. When I was just a child, I managed to get Death sealed within me, lucky break right?" He said with a sarcastic voice. The awarded him with everybody's collective attention. "Since it seems like we're going to have a pissing contest about personal achievements with our power, I was forced to fight the Goddess of Death, Nyx. Now I know what you're thinking: 'Killing death? Impossible!', and you're right in thinking that. At the last moment, Igor over there," he pointed over his shoulder, "helped me create a new arcana: The Universe, and I managed to seal her off, sacrificing my own life instead. There isn't much left to fear after you've died, so there's not much of a reason to shoot down the offer of saving the world yet again. We've been given a task that would be impossible for anybody not us and I intend to enjoy myself throughout it." He gave them an eerie smile and slowly walked back to his seat. Everybody looked at Yu, the last person left. He lifted himself from his seat and made his way to the center.

"Hi, I'm Yu Narukami. My journey consisted of solving a murder case and discovering that the true culprit was the Goddess Izanami. I do hope that throughout our shared journey we can become good friends and form everlasting bonds." He bowed out of respect to them and made his way back to his seat. Naoya shook his shoulder and mouthed a 'Nice' to him. Philemon looked at the four once more before speaking again.

"Behind your chairs you will each find a weapon fitted to your preferences," he motioned for them to check. They all reached behind their seats and pulled out their respective weapons.

"I'm lovin' all of this variety we got here," Naoya muttered sarcastically. It seemed that they all shared the same love of weaponry as they all were given a katana. The only things worth mentioning was the submachine gun Naoya had and the steel gauntlets Minato were currently putting on.

They were all admiring their blades when Elizabeth spoke up. "Now comes the decision of who shall be leader amongst you." In the blink of an eye, all four of them jumped from their chairs.

"I'll do it!" They all yelled simultaneously. Slowly, their heads turned in each other's direction, faces contorted in confusion.

Then calamity ensued.

"The hell do you mean you— "

"I'm the only one that's faced Nyarla— "

"If anybody's fit for leader it me! I've got th— "

"Like I'm taking orders from a walking doorknob!"

"You guys argue too much to be leader!"

"Maybe you're just too lax to be a leader!"

That was when Tatsuya stepped back, furious and yet… oddly excited. "I've got an idea… how about we fight for it?" He pointed his katana at the others. "Last one standing will be the leader, no questions asked."

Minato smiled at Tatsuya. "That's not a bad idea, besides, it'll be a good chance to get used to my body again."

"Now you're talkin' my language! I'm game," Naoya said, clearly interested in a good fight.

"Ugh, are you sure that's a good idea? I feel like that would only set us back," Yu said. Hoping to once again defuse the situation before it escalated any further.

"Nonsense, this is for a common goal after all. It will be a great opportunity to gauge each other's strength. We just have to make sure we don't accidentally kill anybody," Tatsuya replied, voice laced with an unknown emotion.

"I can't make any promises there," Minato said, readying his blade. Yu looked at him, then to Tatsuya and finally Naoya. He turned back to Philemon and the others.

"And you guys are just alright with this?" He asked, hoping somebody would be on his side.

"I would not miss out on the opportunity to witness a battle of this caliber," Elizabeth said.

"I must agree with my sister, this will truly be a sight to behold," Margaret said. Next to her, Igor was grinning ear to ear and Philemon remained silent. Yu deadpanned, seeing no hope of stopping them.

"Well, I guess if you can't beat them," he muttered, steeling himself for a fight. Everybody stepped back, getting into their respective stances. Tatsuya bent his legs and held his sword with both hands in front of him, pointing it up and away from his body. Naoya was leaning forward, sword held backhanded in his left hand, completely serious as he stared at the space between them. Minato held his sword by his right side with one hand, twirling his katana from the hilt periodically. Yu, like Minato, held his sword by his right side, the only difference was that he held it with both hands instead of just one. He bent down and leaned forward, beady eyes glancing over the other three.

' _I'll admit that I'm a little on edge. But for some reason, I can't help but feel kind of excited,'_ he thought to himself.

"We have more than enough room to go a little crazy here. So, is everybody ready?" Tatsuya asked, ready to pounce on the others.

"Yeah, I'm all set over here," Naoya said.

"Y-yeah, I'm ready," Yu said.

"Enough talk, just battle!" Minato yelled, rushing forward, then leaping high into the air and coming down at Tatsuya with an overhead slice. Tatsuya raised his blade above his head in a horizontal guard as Minato came down fast. Both blades met each other with a loud 'clink!' as Minato's attack collided with Tatsuya's guard. Minato landed and proceeded to push down, forcing Tatsuya onto his knees as he tried to push back. Thinking quickly, Tatsuya rolled onto his side, causing Minato to push his katana onto the ground, missing Tatsuya by a long shot and opening up his body for an took the chance to raise his right leg and deliver a hard kick to Minato's side, sending him flying towards Yu, who leapt over him on reaction.

He landed in a roll and performed a low swipe at Tatsuya's feet. Tatsuya jumped in place and landed on Yu's katana, forcing him to try and pull it out from under him. He looked up and saw Tatsuya raise his sword in the air, aiming it downwards and tried to send it plummeting down on Yu's head. Yu rolled to the side quickly, taking note of how deep into the floor Tatsuya's blade was.

' _That was close!'_ He thought to himself, quickly standing up and throwing a punch at Tatsuya's face. His aim was true as Tatsuya staggered backwards, placing a hand to his jaw as he groaned in pain. Yu picked up his katana and jumped at Tatsuya, performing a downwards stab at him. Tatsuya quickly twirled to the right and made for his sword. He pulled with enough force to get it out and turned just in time to see Yu try to take off his head. He brought his sword up to meet Yu's and the blades met. They remained still for a short moment before Yu stepped back, allowing Tatsuya the chance to try and attack with a side slash aimed at Yu's gut. Yu retaliated with a guard and then a slash of his own. This continued for a while until Tatsuya managed to avoid a high slash from Yu and swept him off of his feet. He was getting ready to stab at him when he received a hard elbow to the side from Naoya, sending him rolling for a few feet.

"Thanks Naoya!" He said (yelled maybe, he couldn't tell), not expecting the hard kick to the chin Naoya gave him. Yu screamed in pain as he was sent reeling back from the sheer force of the attack.

"Don't thank me, consider me your enemy until the battle is over!" He yelled. Turning in reaction to the yelling Minato charging at him. Minato tried to stab at his throat, but Naoya dodged just in time. Minato repeated the action multiple times, each time Naoya managing to dodge successfully, until finally he attempted a side swipe at his torso. Naoya got his sword and placed it in the way of Minato's, effectively halting the attack. Naoya pushed off and leapt back, only to be met by a hard shove from Tatsuya. He staggered backwards, but then he used his building momentum and launched backwards off of the ground, his body making an arc in the air. Then as he came down, he placed his hand on the ground and pushed off, performing a backflip and landing on his feet. Naoya grinned and got back in a defensive stance, ready for Tatsuya as he ran at him.

Yu was just getting up from Naoya's kick when Minato started walking towards him, twirling the blade in his right hand, licking his lips creepily as Yu got ready for him. Minato raised his hand at Yu, grinning wickedly.

"Now don't be nervous, it'll only hurt for a second," he said. Yu dashed forward, slashing his sword downwards at Minato who sidestepped the attack stylishly. His smile didn't fade as Yu attempted to decapitate him, only for Minato to duck quickly and try to sweep Yu off of his feet. Anticipating this, Yu jumped up and spun in the air, aiming a back heel for Minato's cheek. Minato was quick and blocked the strike with his left arm, pushing Yu away and hopping back, then launching himself at Yu.

Yu landed just in time to block Minato's blade with his own, locking them in a power struggle. The sound of steel clashing with steel reverberated through the air as the two blades met with enough force to cause a small shock wave around them. They each pushed against each other, hoping to gain the advantage so they could attack, but it seemed like they were equal in power. Eventually, Yu got the upper hand and launched Minato's katana in the air, then once again attempted to slice his head off. Minato leapt back in time to avoid the slash, observing his katana stab the ground a few feet away from their fight, his smile widening at his situation.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," he said. He put his fists in front of his face and lowered his head, leaning forward and bending his knees, placing his left leg forward and his right leg back, getting into a proper orthodox fighting stance. With his left hand, Minato motioned for Yu to come at him. "Show me what you've got!"

Yu's eyes widened for a second over the fact that Minato was confident enough to fight without his sword, but then he tensed back up when he realized:

 **He was confident enough to fight without his sword!**

Yu yelled as he ran forward, trying to slice downwards again, only for Minato to once more sidestep the attack. He again tried to take off Minato's head, but this time instead of just ducking, Minato chose to weave backwards, cackling loudly at Yu failing to get a hit off.

"What's wrong, want me to stand still?" He taunted. Yu anger rose quickly as he began to swing wildly at Minato in a random pattern, getting even more furious as Minato easily dodged each slash Yu went for. After enough failed attempts to chop him to bits, Yu tried to stab at Minato's torso only for him to quickly catch the blade with his right gauntlet before it could impale him. Yu gasped as Minato yanked on Yu's sword, effectively pulling Yu towards him and gave him a powerful punch on the gut. The punch was hard, hard enough to make Yu cough up a decent amount of blood and then double over in pain.

"I'm impressed you withstood that blow, there's more to you than meets the eye that's for sure. I'm coming at you, you better dodge," Minato warned. He dashed at Yu quicker than he could react and unleashed a flurry of blows at his defenseless body. Jabs to the chest, haymakers to the face, hard kicks to the ribs, Yu was at Minato's mercy as he couldn't keep up with him. Minato's laugh increased in volume as each blow connected; he loved this, the adrenaline that rushed through him when he felt bones cracking beneath his knuckles. The pleasure he felt when he tore the muscles of another.

There was nothing like it!

"RAAGH!" Minato yelled as he gave Yu a hard roundhouse, sending him flying a few feet away. Yu yelled in pain as he landed on his back. His body ached from the blows Minato gave him, it begged for him to stop but he knew he couldn't. Slowly, he got back up, only slightly though as he had to use his sword to keep him up. He looked down at the ground, taking note of the copious amounts of blood coming from his face. This guy was something else, that's for sure.

"Taking a break during a fight? Not the smartest move," he heard Minato say behind him. Yu quickly grabbed his sword and let out a wild swipe, but his sword only met the air.

"What the he—GAH!" He screamed as he got a hard knee to the side of his face from Minato, who was laughing even louder than before. Minato put his hands in his pocket and gave Yu a shit eating grin.

"You enjoying yourself yet Narukami? Now get up, I know this is not the extent of your strength!"

Yu slowly got back on his feet, shaking his head and rubbing his cheek. That one hurt like hell, but there's no way he's going to be the first to go down.

"You're right, that's not the extent of my strength. In fact, I'm just getting started!" His eyes filled with determination, adrenaline returning to him in waves as he got ready for round two. "Get ready, cause I'm going all out from this point forward!" He was surrounded by a white aura and his hair started to flow wildly as his eyes started to glow a bright blue.

"That's right! Do whatever it is you do! Otherwise, I can't unleash my true power either!" Minato yelled back, retrieving his katana from its resting place. Suddenly, he was enveloped by a black aura and started to cackle madly as his eyes began glowing a menacing red. They were still for a moment before they both gave out animalistic roars and dashed at each other.

Back at the center of the room, Margaret, Elizabeth and Igor could not stop grinning over the battle that they bore witness to. It was silent amongst them before Margaret finally spoke.

"Truly, this is a sight to behold," she said, though it was barely audible as Minato was yelling in pain from Yu impaling him in the right shoulder with his katana; Margaret remained calm, turning to Elizabeth with a pleased smile. "I do declare this to be the greatest battle I've ever seen. This is far better than anything I could have ever imagined." A small giggle escaped Elizabeth's lips after hearing her sister.

"I agree with you wholeheartedly my dear sister. Though, I do wonder if it was a good idea to let them battle with such ferocity," Elizabeth said, smiling widening further when Minato lost his sword once again only to catch Yu's arm mid-slash and grin wickedly as Yu's face seemed to be the perfect mixture of shock and fear.

"You need not worry Elizabeth, their injuries should be nothing you cannot handle," Igor assured her. His attention was aimed at Naoya and Tatsuya's fight, seemingly interested in the more seasoned Persona users.

"Right you are Master," Elizabeth agreed, closing her eyes for a second, seemingly going into deep thought. Philemon stood next to them, remaining completely silent throughout their conversation, watching all four Persona users go at it in the distance. He smiled to himself, he was right to choose them for their inner potential as this was truly a fight worth watching.

Meanwhile, a couple of feet away from Minato and Yu, Naoya and Tatsuya were pulling out all of the stops. Each time one made to slash at the other, their respective blades collided with the other. However, Naoya was pushing Tatsuya back, each slash filled with more force than the last. Tatsuya was having trouble parrying all of Naoya's blows as he began to run out of steam, Naoya was no slouch with his sword that was for sure. Tatsuya managed to block an overhead slash from Naoya who looked like he was hell-bent on taking Tatsuya out. Tatsuya stepped to the side and then dashed in for a gut blow. The punch connected and it caused Naoya to double over, Tatsuya took this opportunity to deliver a strong uppercut to Naoya's vulnerable face sending him flying through the air. Naoya slowly rose from the ground looked at Tatsuya, the only emotion he felt right now was fury.

Tatsuya covered his blood stained right ear in pain, Naoya got him good there a little earlier. It felt like a piece was missing but he didn't have time to check as Naoya came at him again, this time trying to bisect Tatsuya from his left shoulder down to his waist with a backhanded slash. Tatsuya managed to parry the attack with his blade, then pushed off and slashed upwards at Naoya. He only just dodged, but the sword still got him on the side of the face. Naoya twirled to the side and slammed his foot hard into Tatsuya's hip, causing him to slide along the ground from the sheer force. Naoya put a hand to his new cut, trailing from his jaw to his left eyebrow.

' _I should count myself lucky. I could've lost my left eye had I not moved out of the way,'_ he thought to himself. He removed his hand from the gash and looked at his palm, there was an absurd amount of blood in his hand, and he felt more coming from the cut itself. Naoya looked at Tatsuya getting back up, not ready to go down just yet.

"Y'know, you're not half bad with the sword pal," Naoya said, offering Tatsuya a complimentary smile. Tatsuya nodded in approval, but still gave him a menacing look.

"Thanks, you're pretty good yourself. But don't think that'll make me go easy on you!" Tatsuya yelled as he charged at Naoya, making to slice off his left arm. Naoya juked to the right and aimed a kick at Tatsuya's face. Tatsuya anticipated this and raised the back of his forearm to defend. It worked, but the force caused Tatsuya to stagger backwards, almost falling over. His breathing was ragged, as was Naoya's. They're eyes met for a brief moment before Tatsuya lunged at him again.

Naoya quickly pulled out his submachine gun and opened fire on Tatsuya, who began to run a serpentine pattern as he tried to avoid the bullets. Tatsuya got low and increased his speed, bullets whizzing past his head as he got closer and closer to Naoya. Just when he reached him, he felt a bullet tear through his left leg. He howled in pain but didn't stop charging, getting his katana and plunging it through Naoya's own right leg.

Naoya's scream tore through the air as he felt hot white pain course through his leg. Tatsuya pulled his sword out and rolled out of the way of a wild slash from Naoya. They both knelt down on their strong leg, taking in staggered breaths. This battle would be coming to a close soon, and neither didn't want to be the one on the floor.

"You don't look too great over there, you don't have much fight left in you that's for sure," Naoya said, as if he read Tatsuya's mind.

"I can say the same to you," Tatsuya replied, readying himself for more. This time, it was Naoya who charged in, attempting an upwards slice aimed for Tatsuya's chin. Tatsuya leaned back, the blade only barely missing its mark. Tatsuya performed a full spin and gave Naoya a hard left spin kick to his ribs. Naoya couldn't dodge as he was still recovering from his missed slash. The kick hurt and Naoya had to step back for a moment. Tatsuya took this opportunity to try and slice off Naoya's head. Naoya tried to duck backwards but his reactions were subpar at the moment due to his weakened state, causing the tip of the sword to graze his forehead, opening skin. Naoya leapt back, but Tatsuya pressed on, right hand balled into a fist as he threw a straight punch at Naoya's face. Naoya, in retaliation, threw a right hook at Tatsuya filled with all of his might.

Both fists collided with their targets as a large 'pow!' could be heard throughout the room. Time seemed to stop as both men felt the force of each other's fists slam into their faces. Both Naoya and Tatsuya flew backwards from the force of their respective strikes, landing on their backs. They remained on the floor for a few seconds before they grabbed their swords and began to rise. Tatsuya was hunched over, his arms dangling in front of him as he struggled to stay standing. His right eye was bleeding profusely and he couldn't see anything out of it, and his leg was burning from the bullet hole.

Naoya wasn't faring any better. He had to use his sword as a crutch, blood practically pouring out from his cuts and he struggled to remain on his feet. "I'm—I'm not done yet," he struggled to say. "In fact, I'm just getting started!" Naoya yelled, managing to stand up semi-straight as he was enveloped in a purple aura, his eyes shining a refulgent white.

"Don't count me out either! This is only the beginning!" Tatsuya screamed as he was covered in a crimson red aura, his eyes shining a sickly yellow. Besides them, Minato was send tumbling across the floor by a strike from Yu. He managed to adjust himself and dig his left gauntlet into the floor, skidding to a stop. His clothes were shredded and he was bleeding from a decent amount of cuts on his face. His right arm was covered in blood and practically useless from the large hole in his shoulder Yu gave him and his left eye was swollen shut. In front of him, Yu didn't look to great either; somehow he managed to get shirtless, showing off his toned yet badly bruised body. His right side was colored a disgusting yellow (Minato had most likely broken a rib or two) and his right arm was twisted in an obscene angle. He hacked up a large amount of blood and his nose looked to be broken. Both of them gave out labored breaths as they were reaching their limits. Minato's eyes were still red and Yu's were still a bright blue, oddly enough, they were grinning wildly at each other.

"It's been a great fight, however this is where it ends," Minato said as he stood up, putting his hands to his sides. Yu chuckled at Minato's statement.

"I'm glad we can agree on that," he said, dropping his sword and raising his left hand high in the air.

"This battle is over, Tatsuya!" Naoya exclaimed as he tossed his sword away, bending down slightly and leaning forward. Tatsuya mimicked Naoya's motions, hands wide open as he prepared to finish their duel.

"You can say that again!" Tatsuya yelled back, the size of both his and Naoya's aura increased exponentially. Their combined energy generated a powerful gust that raged wildly between them. Besides them, the same thing seemed to be occurring to Minato and Yu. They remained silent for a few seconds, before they all yelled out at the same time.

"SEIMEN KONGOU!"

"VULCANUS!"

"ORPHEUS!"

"IZANAGI!"

The large amount of power all four released resulting in a massive shockwave of pure energy exploding from the center of the battlefield, causing all four combatants to fly in different directions. Nobody managed to make a proper landing as they were drained of any and all energy. The only noise for a few moments was the sound of labored breathing coming from them.

Somehow, Naoya found the energy to speak one more time. "Let's just… call it… a draw… for now," he said, panting between every other word. At that, all four of them fell unconscious, succumbing to their shared wounds.

* * *

 **They seem to be off to a great start, don't you think?**

 **First fight of the story, how'd you guys and gals like it? Too slow? Too quick? Too short? Too long? Lemme know so I can work on my material for the future fights!**

 **Critique is always accepted and reviews are always nice.**

 **Stay golden!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: First Day on the Job**

 **\- Reviews**

 **Adrianmeneses1234: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it**

 **EternalCombOver: I'm pleased to see you enjoyed the battle. Lack of intricacy, eh? Alright, I'll be sure to work on that for the future battles in the story. An AK? Now all I can think of is Tatsuya just going Rambo on everything in sight! Don't worry though, he won't be limited to just a katana, he'll get more toys to play with in the future.**

 **AmeYuuki: I'm glad to see you liked how the fight panned out. Thanks for pointing out any errors by the way. I'll try to go back and make some edits to anything I messed up on, while working on future content. There was a bunch of different ways that fight was going to go down in my head. Originally, I had decided on it being between just Tatsuya and Minato over something trivial, but I wanted to challenge myself and have all four going at it.**

 **SeventhAssassin: OOC? I've managed to make the protagonists - characters with easily malleable and almost non-existent personalities - seem OOC? Looks like I've achieved the impossible, huzzah! But all jokes aside, if you can give me an explanation as to how you feel so, then I can get to working on the improving.**

 **Extraneous: So reception for the fight scene went surprisingly well. Glad to know I'm not that bad at writing battles.**

 **Continuing the Tale**

* * *

A cacophony of pained groans made its way through the Velvet Room as the four guests woke up from their fight induced slumber. Their bodies ached painfully and their heads pounded something fierce. They were once again seated in the chairs, though this time in a different order. Furthest to the left was Naoya and next to him was Tatsuya. Besides him was Minato and in the last seat was Yu.

"What happened?" Yu asked. His voice was raspy and distant, still seemingly exhausted from their recent bout.

"We kicked each other's asses is what happened," Naoya replied, rubbing his eyes.

"It looks like our injuries have healed," Minato said. He was currently prodding his shoulder for the wound that no longer seemed to exist, ignoring the stinging pain he felt. "Any damage on our clothes have been patched up too," he said as he looked himself over and then looked at the other guests.

"Right on both accounts, although the pain from our injuries still remain," Tatsuya pointed out, wincing as he rubbed the area where his gunshot wound had been. His right eye had to stay half opened for the time being as the pain was too much to open it completely.

"My arm still hurts like hell, but it isn't painful to look at anymore so that's good," Yu said. He pulled up his sleeve and observed his arm for a moment. Nothing (specifically, his arm) didn't seem out of place. Letting out a sigh, then holding his ribs in pain and regretting his action, he placed his leaned back in his seat.

"So is nobody going to ask just how our clothes got fixed? Our injuries make sense but our clothes? We could've been undressed in our sleep or something and nobody is the least bit suspicious?" Naoya asked, voice getting louder after each passing second.

"You need not worry, both your injuries and clothing were tended to with various spells," Margaret informed, her voice attracting the attention of the guests. "Any damage your weapons may have sustained in combat has also been repaired and you will find them besides your respective seats." At that, all four guests looked down to the sides of their chairs and found their weapons placed neatly besides them, their swords were placed in velvet blue sheaths with black shoulder straps.

Minato looked back upwards. "Hmm, honestly I wouldn't mind being undressed if I got to choose who did it," he mused while giving a flirtatious wink in Elizabeth's direction. Elizabeth turned her head to the side and put her hand to her furiously blushing face.

Margaret scoffed at the action.

"Dude, kid's got game," Naoya whispered to nobody in particular. Yu took this opportunity to ask a question about the end of their fight.

"So, just what happened back there? I remember calling upon my Persona and then…" Yu's expression darkened.

"Ah yes, you all attempted to call on your respective Persona at the same time. The sudden outburst of spiritual power used at the same time resulted in an explosion of energy that you could not handle," Philemon explained. He received an understanding hum from Tatsuya, Minato and Naoya while Yu stayed silent and nodded his head. Tatsuya rose from his seat and grabbed his katana, all remnants of pain seemingly gone now.

"Well we've wasted enough time as is, I think it's time for us to go," he said, putting the shoulder strap over him so the blade hung neatly against his back.

"You're right, I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm in the mood to kick some ass!" Naoya exclaimed, snatching his weapons from their resting places and putting them on. His submachine gun now had a strap as well which he used to put on the side of his waist.

Minato had just finished equipping his weaponry when he stood up. "It's about time, I was getting ready to head on out by myself. There's no doubt in my mind I'll get the chance to enjoy myself while we're out there," he said, cracking his neck by rolling it side to side and punching his right palm with his left hand.

Yu slowly stood up beside him, being the only one to hold his sword and sheath in his hand instead of wearing it over his shoulder. He turned towards the other guests and simply nodded at their enthusiasm.

"There is one more thing," Margaret said. She pulled out a small, seemingly filled velvet backpack and held it out towards the guests. "In here is a small supply of items that should sustain you for the time being. You should be able to find more once you start your journey," she said. Yu stepped forward and took the bag from her, tossing it over his shoulder and giving her a smile.

"Thanks Margaret," he simply said, receiving a small hum from Margaret.

"If that's everything, we'll be heading out now," Tatsuya said as he fondled the yellow scarf around his neck.

"I am pleased to see you are all prepared for the trial that waits ahead," Philemon said. He snapped his fingers and behind the guests appeared the Velvet Door. "Once you exit this room you will be back in your world. The only form of communication between yourselves and here will be through Elizabeth, as she previously stated," he explained. He put his hands behind his back before speaking once more. "Now go, and begin your most challenging journey yet." At that, the guests nodded in agreement and made their way towards the door, which just so happened to open on its own. They all exchanged stern expressions, silently wondering if they were still unsure about their shared mission. After deciding that nothing seemed amiss between each other, they all turned their attention back to the exit and filed through the door and into the bright light. Tatsuya stepping through first, followed by Yu and then Naoya, leaving Minato in the Velvet Room with the other denizens. He turned around and looked at them with one eye, the other covered by his blue bangs.

"Something tells me, it'll be a while before we come back in here," he mused. When there was no response from them, he simply gave a cocky smile before stepping into the light.

After his departure, the Velvet Room quickly grew silent.

"The path that lies ahead of them is one that I cannot even begin to fathom," Elizabeth mused as she stared at the cover of her compendium.

"Indeed, it is one that cannot be easily comprehended," Margaret said, her eyes on the now closed door.

"Despite the challenges that they will encounter, I am sure they will not waver in the face of danger," Igor said. His smile widening at the thought of the guests and their newborn journey.

* * *

When Minato walked out, he was examining his gauntlets, almost causing him to bump into Yu from behind.

"No way…" he heard Naoya mutter in disbelief. Minato took his gaze away from his gauntlets and his eyes widened at the world around him.

Or lack thereof.

To say there was nothing wasn't wrong, but it wasn't necessarily right either. In front and all around them was sand as golden as the sun that currently beat down on them with no remorse. Sand dunes towered high in the air and the ground beneath them was a combination of soft sand and hard rock. It was as if the Earth had been wiped completely clean of everything that once stood on it.

' _This… this is worse than I could've imagined,'_ Minato thought.

' _Oh dear, it would seem like calamity has truly fallen on the world,'_ a voice in his head mused. Beside him, a boy in a striped prison outfit appeared. He looked upwards at Minato and gave him a grim smile.

' _Your form, what happened? And more importantly, how are you able to be here at this time?'_

"It must be the state of the world around us," Pharos said, seemingly capable of hearing Minato's thoughts. "The energy flowing to and fro is out of balance, which is why I can appear normally and look like this again." At that, Minato put a hand to his chin.

"Explains why you're transparent. But I wonder if I'm still the only one who can see you," he said, tilting his head towards the others. "Hey, guys!" Minato called out, causing everybody to turn around in response.

"What do y-" Tatsuya tried to speak but stopped himself. He quickly pulled his sword from its sheathe and assumed a fighting stance. "A demon!" He yelled out. Minato raised his hand to stop Tatsuya from attacking.

' _I guess that proves they can,'_ Minato thought.

"Calm down, he's not a demon," Minato said calmly. He motioned towards Pharos, "This here is Pharos, you recall when I said I had death sealed within me right?" Everybody nodded. "Well you're looking at it… mostly."

"So death… is a kid?" Naoya muttered.

"No… well yes… well actually… it's too complicated to explain so don't worry about it. He'll stay out of the way for the most part, I just wanted to test if you guys could see him." With that, he looked down at Pharos and nodded his head. Pharos gave Minato a thumbs-up and then disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Tatsuya stood up straight once more and placed his sword back in the sheathe, grunting in annoyance and turning back around.

"Alright, we're here for a specific reason. We need to find the remnants of Chaos and deal with them properly," Tatsuya said.

"But, where would we even begin to search for them?" Yu asked. "They could be anywhere, what if we start looking only for us to have been going in the complete opposite direction?"

"Yu's right guys, we really need to think about this," Naoya said. Right after that, they felt an extra presence within them. Specifically, within their heads. They all looked to each other in confusion, neither feeling necessarily pain, but an indescribable feeling of intrusion.

" _Yes, hello there?"_ A voice spoke.

"Is this… Elizabeth?" Yu asked.

" _Yes it is I: Elizabeth. I do recall notifying you that I will act as your support, correct?"_

"If you wanna support us, you can start by telling us where to find the Chaos remnants," Naoya said.

" _Oh my, how blunt,"_ Elizabeth said. Naoya could just picture her putting a hand to her mouth in shock. _"My master tells me that you will find the whereabouts of the first remnant, east of your current location."_

"Right, east is…" Tatsuya mumbled. Suddenly everybody moved at once.

"This way!" They all exclaimed, each of them pointing in different directions. There was a pregnant silence for a moment before they all started arguing.

"Are you kidding me? East is this way?"

"Have you no sense of direction? It's clearly this way!"

"Guys, use the position of the sun. It's obviously this way."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's this way."

"What do you mean that way? Look Yu, I like ya, but there's no way in hell that it's over there!"

"As if you know better than he does! I'm the leader, and I say it's this way!"

"I don't recall anybody making you leader. Besides, last I checked, nobody won that fight."

"You guys wanna do this again? I won't hold back this time!"

"Please, don't resort to fighting again."

"Look if you wanna se-" Tatsuya was cut off by a loud screech from behind him.

The four guests turned around and looked up into the sky. High above them were four creatures that circled around in the sky. From their perspective far below on the ground, they looked like incredibly large birds.

"What are those?" Yu asked, squinting his eyes to see better. Seconds after he asked that, the birds took a nose dive aimed straight for them, coming in at breakneck speeds. Their screeches increased in volume as they got closer in proximity. The guests all had to dodge to the ground to avoid being hit by them. When they got up, they saw that the bird creatures took to hovering low on the ground in front of them, giving them a better view at what they really were.

They had the body structure of large birds, but they were rainbow colored. Their bodies had a large exoskeleton that extended down to the end of their tails and their wings had holes, leading to the question of just how they were able to fly. At the ends of their wings were bright, almost beautiful, neon green feathers. There were five of them and they had encircled the guests, their screeches now almost deafening as they surrounded them.

"These… are demons," Naoya said, quickly drawing his blade and getting into a fighting stance. The others did the same, all facing opposite directions as they stared at the demons, prepared for them to strike.

"Finally, I get the chance to kill something. You guys better not get in the way," Minato warned as he swiped at the air.

"I recall saying something like that to you three. If for even one moment you prove to be a hindrance," Tatsuya started but was then interrupted by Yu.

"Guys, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't work together!" Yu said. With that, he dashed forward and made to swipe at the first demon, but missed when it quickly ascended upwards. The demon screeched loudly and from its beak came a green laser aimed at Yu. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and leaped back, dodging the beam with ease. Behind him, Minato charged at another demon, jumping into the air, performing a full front flip and then coming down with a quick slash at the demon's body. His aim was true, creating a large gash in the demon's torso. It screeched in agony but then quickly attempted to stab Minato with its tail. He performed a backflip and landed next to Naoya.

Another one performed an aerial dash for Tatsuya, but he managed to duck and stab upwards at its gut, impaling it, but not killing it. His sword however, got stuck in its body and he couldn't remove it in time, as the demon proceeded to fly high into the air with Tatsuya in tow. He let out a scream of irritation as he was brought into the sky with the demon against his will. His grip on his sword tightened, trying not to let go and fall to his death. The demon performed a random pattern of spins in the air until the sword came loose and Tatsuya was sent flying even higher. He quickly stabilized himself and then proceeded to fall from the sky head first. His sword was aimed downwards at the demon that was facing his direction as he began to gain velocity. His sword pierced through the demon and they both plummeted towards the ground, their landing creating a decently sized dust cloud. The demon screeched one last time, being used to break Tatsuya's fall, before dissolving in a puddle of black and red ichor.

Meanwhile, Naoya had to deal with two demons at the same time. He managed to get some good slices and stabs in, but it didn't seem like he was doing any significant damage. He tried to stab one, but it quickly backed off and then began to flap its wings rapidly and violently. Its quick wing flapping generated a powerful gust of wind that knocked Naoya backwards and into Yu, causing them to both hit the ground. Naoya quickly hopped back onto his feet and then helped Yu up.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see that attack coming," Naoya apologized.

Yu waved him off politely. "Don't worry about it, we've got bigger things to deal with," he simply said. A few feet away from them, Tatsuya was charging towards one of the demons that Naoya was previously fighting, hell-bent on slicing it to pieces. The demon was the only important thing in his vision as he picked up speed, gritting his teeth as he closed the distance. He tried to bisect it from the waist but it flew straight upwards. The only thing left where it once was Minato who had apparently tried to cut it in half vertically. Their blades unintentionally clashed as they both missed their target. They jumped back and growled in anger.

"Watch what you're doing!" Tatsuya yelled at Minato.

"Watch what I'm doing? You could've taken my head off with that slice! You're careless," Minato retorted.

"Me? Careless? I dare you to say that again!"

"Guys! Now is not the time to be arguing!" Yu yelled at both of them, jumping in between the two. Quickly defusing the situation. "Sword attacks aren't doing any real damage to them! We need to find out their weakness."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Naoya asked, jogging up to them quickly. The four demons were circling around them very quickly, picking up dust due to how fast they were flying.

" _I believe I can be of assistance,"_ they heard Elizabeth say. Tatsuya and Naoya looked around before remembering that it was in their heads. Yu and Minato remained still, both of them being used to this form of communication.

"Oh yeah, I forgot she can do that," Naoya muttered.

"Alright Elizabeth, since you're our support can you give us their weakness?" Minato asked. It was at that moment that one demon took a quick turn and grabbed his ankle in its open beak. He yelled in surprise as it clammed down and then soared straight upwards into the sky. Minato dropped his sword on accident from the unexpected attack and was rendered weaponless.

The guests broke from their formation and then attempted to attack the demons again.

" _Ah yes, these demons: Zhen. I believe they will fall easily to fire-based attacks,"_ she informed. Tatsuya grinned at the new information.

"Fire-based attacks? Perfect," he simply said. Above him, Minato was tossed upwards even higher, flailing in the sky. Below him, the demon flapped its wings again, sending powerful gusts of winds his way. Minato moved his arms to cover his face but the force was too much, blowing him even higher in the sky.

"Tch, this is annoying. Luckily, they're weak to an element I possess right now," he said. He stopped his flailing in the air and faced the demon hovering below him. A tarot card appeared in front of him and realized what it was immediately, crushing it in his left gauntlet. "Now, let's get things started," he said as a bright light appeared just below him. Minato landed on the shoulders of a mechanical man with a large, golden lyre on his back. His eyes shined a bright red and his mouth was covered by a red scarf. Minato knelt down, patting Orpheus on the head, mouth formed in a thin line. "I think it's time we burn this freak of nature into the dirt beneath our feet, eh Orpheus?" He said. Orpheus grabbed his lyre from his back and strummed loudly, generating a small ball of fire in front of him. He strummed again and the fireball flew towards the Zhen floating in the air. It exploded on impact and the Zhen plummeted towards the ground, dissolving as it fell from the sky.

Back on the ground, Yu had noticed the small explosion in the sky above him, catching sight of Minato descend from the smoke cloud on the shoulders of a large mechanical man with a lyre on his back. _'So he summoned his Persona,'_ he thought as he turned around a saw Naoya currently firing his submachine gun at a Zhen. It was dodging the bullets with ease as Naoya fired wildly at it. Yu ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. "I think it's time we show these things what we can do!" he said. Naoya seemed to take his hint as he put his gun away and grinned enthusiastically.

"Y'know Yu, I think you're right," he said. They both stood side by side, tarot cards appearing in front of them at the same time. They nodded in approval and crushed it in their hands.

"Seimen Kongou!"

"Izanagi!"

Behind Naoya appeared a blue man with frost growing on his face, arms, legs and groin appeared. Two yellow stripes ran down his torso and his eyes glowed a dark orange. Behind Yu was a man wearing a large black cloak that reached his shins. He wore a white mask that covered all but his yellow eyes. He had a white headband that hung loosely, reaching his feet. In his right hand was a large, black and bandaged spear.

"Let's give 'em hell Yu!" Naoya said.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Yu responded. At that, Naoya, Yu and their respective Personae charged at the Zhen.

Minato and Orpheus descended slowly, reaching the ground peacefully and landing on the puddle of ichor that was once a Zhen. Minato hopped off of Orpheus, whistling a catchy tune as he walked towards his sword and picked it up from the ground. He turned towards the others and lazily made his way towards them.

Tatsuya had just finished pushing a Zhen off of him when he noticed Minato coming his way. He looked back at the Zhen he was facing and twirled to the right, just barely dodging another green laser from its beak.

' _Mute Gaze. I suggest you avoid the attack as it can restrict you from using your Persona,'_ Elizabeth informed.

"Duly noted," Tatsuya muttered. He pulled back his right arm and felt his hand get covered in fire. He closed his hand and compressed the flame in his palm and then threw it like a baseball. The ball of fire barely missing either Zhen as it dodged in opposite directions, but Tatsuya didn't stop. He kept chucking fireballs at the Zhen, hoping that any of them would get hit.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself," Minato said. Tatsuya huffed in frustration and turned to his left at the sound of a strong gust of wind. There was small tornado with a Zhen trapped in the center, nearly being torn apart by the sharp winds cutting at its body. If that wasn't enough to kill it, then there were small bolts of lightning in the tornado, violently shocking the Zhen on different parts of its body. It shrieked in pain from the amount of damage it was taking from the elemental onslaught. Near the tornado, Yu and Naoya were readying their blades and crouching down into a somewhat sprinter's position, smiling at each other and then dashing at the tornado. They both jumped at the same time, swiping their blades in perpendicular directions, cutting the Zhen into four different pieces as the tornado vanished. They landed on their feet and bumped fists.

"That was pretty awesome!" Naoya said.

"Yeah, we did a good job!" Yu replied.

"I'll admit that was rather impressive," Minato mused. He turned to the side and his eyes widened slightly. "I recommend we duck," he simply said. Tatsuya turned in the direction Minato was looking at and then dodged towards the ground the same time Minato did, avoiding a tackle from two Zhen. They stood up and patted the dirt off of their clothes.

"I say we end this now," Tatsuya said, earning an approving nod from Minato.

"Agreed," Minato simply said. They both then began to run towards the two Zhen at breakneck speeds, yelling all the while. Minato threw his sword and successfully managed to impale one Zhen before crushing a tarot card and keeping his right hand balled in a fist, smiling as it was engulfed in fire. Tatsuya ran at the other, his grip on his sword increasing as he slashed at a Tarot Card in front of him, a surge of energy flowing through his body.

Behind Tatsuya appeared not Apollo, but his first persona Vulcanus. His body was purely mechanical with his torso being green and black streak going down the center. His arms and legs were platinum colored and were adorned with holes. His shoulders shot out bright, scorching flames and his head resembled the tip of a lighter. His mouth wasn't visible, but his eyes shone a bright yellow.

"This is something I've always wanted to do!" Minato yelled, jumping into the air and at the Zhen. Tatsuya reached the apex of his speed and impaled his Zhen, causing it to screech in pain. Vulcanus then proceeded to shove his right fist down the Zhen's throat, burying it up to his shoulder.

"Now Vulcanus, burn it from the inside out!" Tatsuya yelled, pulling his sword out the same time Vulcanus ignited his right hand. The Zhen caught on fire instantly flailing about wildly as Vulcanus used his free hand to grab the Zhen's tail. He pulled out his right arm, grabbing the Zhen by its beak and then ripped it in half violently. The Zhen exploded, black ichor raining down onto the ground for a few seconds until there was nothing left.

"FALCON…" Minato started, only inches away from his Zhen, it charged at him with the same fervor Minato had as he closed the distance.

"PUNCH!" He finished the same moment his fist collided with the Zhen's face, slamming the creature into the ground, creating a large cloud of dust and dirt. The Zhen dissolved into the ground slowly as Minato and Tatsuya stood up and walked away. They looked at each other and nodded, seemingly pleased with their work. They stopped in front of Yu and Naoya, a pregnant silence filling the air.

"That was… pretty good for our first time working together," Naoya said, looking at Yu and then at the other two. Everybody else nodded in agreement, sharing a laugh at their successful battle. They stopped and turned around at the sound of hissing in the air.

The puddles of ichor started to rise up into the sky, fusing together into one large black mass. It remained still for one moment before shooting off violently in the distance. Everybody exchanged confused glances, not sure what just happened.

"So something tells me, that's probably east," Yu said, still not sure what he had just witnessed.

"Usually after killing a demon, they just dissipate into puddles like they did just now. Not all of that extra, flying off stuff," Naoya said.

"Same with me. Yu's right, I think it's safe to say that east is where that just shot off to," Tatsuya said.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Minato asked, sheathing his sword. He turned on his heel and walked in the direction the remains of the demons flew.

"Beats standing around here," Naoya said. With that, he started walking ahead leaving Tatsuya and Yu behind. Yu and Tatsuya met eyes for a moment before they got in step with the other two.

* * *

They weren't sure how long they were walking for, but the sun's sinking height in the sky notified them that they had been moving for a while. The sky had been painted with heated colors of bright orange and dark yellow from the setting sun; the view was not tainted by clouds and the sun slowly began to be blocked out by plateaus and mountains in the distance.

Naoya had been making idle conversation with Yu, the topic being his younger years and when he had first gained the potential. Yu seemed to be interested, wide smile on his face as he never took his eyes off of Naoya.

Tatsuya had taken to periodically flicking a lighter he had remembered was in his pocket a while ago, humming in deep thought over something he decided not to discuss. Minato was currently mumbling the lyrics to a song he used to listen to. Nobody asked him to stop so he didn't, he doubt he would've anyways.

"So this guy says: 'It is showtime! I'll make you dance… A dance of death!' Like, how cliché can you get?" Naoya said. Yu nodded frantically, eating up Naoya's story like a child being told a fairy tale.

"So anyways, we get ready for a brawl and then-" Naoya was cut off.

"Hey guys, check this out," Tatsuya stated. Everybody walked over to where he was standing and craned their heads in the direction he was looking, which was downwards.

"These are… train tracks," Minato said while stomping on the tracks.

"Exactly, which means that there should be a town nearby," Tatsuya said.

"Or the remains of one," Yu replied. Everybody looked at him when he said that. "Well, seeing as how the world is pretty much gone to nothing, I can only assume something like that, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Naoya said. He looked back at the tracks, they were currently standing on a curve, meaning that from their path, there was no way they could've spotted it from afar.

"Well it seems to be going in the same direction we were headed in; this'll only serve as a way to keep us from getting lost," Yu said, looking at the others in expectation. He received his reply in the form of approving nods and hums. They all turned to walk again but was stopped when they heard the distinct sound of a horse neighing in the distance.

"What the hell?" Naoya muttered, turning around. The others did the same, each as curious as the other, wondering where it was coming from.

There, off on the horizon was a silhouette making its way towards them. As it got closer and easier to make out, they realized what they were looking at was a large dark knight with only an upper body riding on a horse with no legs. The horse whinnied loudly as it approached them with great tenacity, the knight on its back raising his jousting stick high in the sky as they got closer. The guests quickly drew their swords, sans Minato who got into a fighting stance, opting to use his body for this fight.

"This one looks like it could be a good challenge," Minato said, cracking his knuckles from within his gauntlets. Besides him, Tatsuya's face hardened as he got into his familiar samurai-esque stance. Naoya readied his gun and Yu held his blade firmly as the enemy got closer. The horse halted in front of them and they whinnied even louder than before, creating a shockwave that blew sand and dirt in multiple directions and threatened to blow the guests off of their feet.

"I don't think we should jump at this one without a strategy guys, he means business," Yu said, adjusting himself from that burst of power. His knuckles turned white as he squeezed the hilt of his blade even harder and fixed the bag on his back. "Elizabeth, do you have anything for us?"

' _It appears to nullify light and dark-based attacks, however, it is weak against fire,'_ she said. Minato and Tatsuya exchanged glances and stepped in front of Naoya and Yu.

"Fire again, huh? So much for a challenge," Minato mused. Right when he said that, the knight raised his large, broad lance into the air and let out a bestial yell. The horse whinnied in tune with the knight and suddenly a red shield appeared over them for a brief moment before vanishing.

"What was that?" Tatsuya said. "It's nothing like I've seen before."

' _It has cast a spell called 'Red Wall'. It has nullified its weakness and turned it into a resistance,'_ Elizabeth said.

"So what you're saying is, at the moment, he has no real weakness?" Yu said.

' _That is correct,'_ Elizabeth replied.

"Well damn, that's just great. So much for strategy," Naoya sarcastically said. "But then again, at the same time, he has no real resistances besides light, dark and fire. So all other elemental attacks are still a go, right?"

"That's what I'm guessing," Minato said. Then suddenly, the knight pointed his lance at the guests and the horse charged at them quickly. The knight held his lance to his side, attempting to mow them down; everybody dodged out of the way of the attack with ease, but the horse stopped and turned, letting out another loud cry.

"Tch, try this on for size!" Yu yelled, crushing a tarot card. Izanagi appeared and spun his spear before pointing it at the sky. A small storm cloud formed above the knight, thunder booming within it. The knight pointed his lance at the sky the same moment lightning shot out from the cloud, effectively creating a lightning rod, absorbing the lightning into his lance.

"That one is new," Naoya said. The knight pulled his lance back and then thrusted it forward, shooting lightning out faster than anybody can react to. It hit Minato flawlessly, launching him backwards as he screamed in pain. He landed on the ground in a tumble, Yu looked back and ran towards him, cursing under his breath.

"The… bag. Check the bag," Minato barely managed to say. Convulsing violently as electricity crackled periodically on different points of his body. Yu quickly took off the backpack and rummaged through it. He was greatly pleased to find a large number of healing items in it, finally settling on a small container of medicine.

Behind them, Naoya and Tatsuya had charged in relentlessly, Naoya firing off rounds with perfect aim and Tatsuya with his sword at the ready. The knight, using his lance, deflected each bullet that came at him with ease. Tatsuya closed the distance, jumping and performing a front flip in the air, coming down with a quick slash aimed at the knight's head. The knight raised his lance to deflect the blow, the earth shaking as both weapons collided. Tatsuya landed on the horse's head, gritting his teeth at the blocked attack. Behind him, Naoya took this opportunity to summon Seimen Kongou.

"Magaru!" Naoya yelled. Two tornadoes appeared, one below Naoya and another one surrounding the demon. The one that appeared below Naoya was used to launch him towards the demon at breakneck speeds, gaining momentum incredibly quickly.

The wind surrounding the demon and Tatsuya was relentless, but Tatsuya maintained his balance, blade still locked with the knight's lance as his clothes bellowed violently in the powerful winds. Behind him, Naoya practically flew over Tatsuya and drew his blade, ready to attack the knight from a different angle. The horse began to flail about angrily on the ground and then spun quickly, dispelling the Garu and knocking Tatsuya off balance, giving the knight an opportunity to attack. It was enveloped in an orange aura, increasing his strength as he delivered a punch to Tatsuya. Tatsuya felt the force of the brutal punch enter his gut and exit through his back, it was enough to make him spit up. He grimaced in pain before he felt himself get sent flying out of the small tornado; the tip of the knight's lance was covered in purple as he attempted to stab at Naoya. He managed to contort his body so the lance would just barely miss impaling him, only succeeding at cutting him in the side. However, it broke skin and the purple that enveloped the tip of the lance seeped into his body.

Naoya landed on the ground, failing to get a strike in and suddenly feeling weakened. "What the hell did you do to me?" His vision began to warp and the color from everything started to fade. Grabbing his head and losing balance, he fell onto the ground. The sounds of the battle sounded like it was miles away, that demon did something to his mind, fucked him up really bad. He felt bile rising in his throat, but he somehow managed to force it back down. The sound of his heart beating increased drastically, as if it was going to make his eardrums pop. He managed to grab his gun and fire off a few wild shots as he lay on the ground. Some of the bullets missed their target by a longshot, but a handful managed to hit the rear of the horse, one actually clipping the armor of the knight. That grabbed their attention, turning around and facing Naoya. "This ain't good," he mumbled, barely holding on to consciousness. The pair of demons made their way towards him, the knight holding his lance lazily enough to where it managed to scrape the ground as they got closer. Another orange aura enveloped him slowly.

' _You've been poisoned, I suggest you cure it quickly,'_ Elizabeth informed. Ah, so that's what happened. It had been awhile since he'd been inflicted with an ailment, so it'd make sense for him to be confused. The horse was moving slowly with the knight's yellow eyes staring Naoya down, as if it was savoring the moment, that bastard.

"I swear; I'll kick your ass. Just you… just you wait and see," he managed to croak out.

A short distance away, Minato was getting back on his feet, having downed some medicine. "Thanks for that," he said to Yu, who only nodded in response. Minato opened his hand and then closed it, still slightly twitching due to the shock of the attack. _'That was a little too close, I'll make that freak pay for what he did,'_ he thought. He was knocked out of his reverie when he heard a loud scream coming their way. Yu and Minato turned to the source, barely moving out of the way of Tatsuya being sent flying from a powerful attack. They took notice of Naoya lying on the ground in the distance with the demon getting closer to him.

' _Naoya has been poisoned and hasn't much power left in stock,'_ Elizabeth said. Yu and Minato exchanged quick glances at the information.

"You should tend to him, I'll distract it," Yu told Minato, tossing him the bag of items.

"Sounds like a plan," Minato said. Yu was the one who made the first, running at the demon and readying his sword. He sidestepped an attempted skewer from the knight and then jumped on the horse, performing a vicious roundhouse for the knight's face. It collided, causing the knight to reel backwards. Yu then tried to get him with a side swipe, only for his sword to be grabbed by the knight's own. Yu took note of Minato arriving where Naoya lay, digging his hand through the bag. Yu brought his attention back to the knight, tarot card appearing in front of him for him to break with his free hand. He did as such, calling on Izanagi to deliver an attack. He appeared above Yu and grabbed his spear with both hands trying to slam it down on the knight's head. The knight blocked the attack with his lance, giving Yu an opportunity to pull his sword from the knight's grip and deliver a brutal stab to his chest. Izanagi vanished as the knight grabbed his chest in agony, giving Yu the chance to leap off of the horse.

"You're strong, I'll give you that," he mused. He looked behind the knight and saw that Naoya was getting back on his feet with the help of Minato. "Though I wonder, what would you do if you didn't have your precious steed to assist you," he said, grabbing his sword from its sheath. He ran at the knight once more with his sword in his left hand, his grip tightening as he closed the distance between them quickly and impaling the horse in the face. Yu twisted his sword and then kicked off of the horse, pulling out his sword and landing back on the ground. The horse let out a bestial cry of agony before falling to the ground and vanishing. The knight too fell, his lance rolling out of reach. He tried to move for it, but Naoya stepped on his hand and head, halting all of his movement save for useless flailing.

Tatsuya walked up to them, his face signifying that he was pissed beyond all belief. "I think we should take our time with this one guys," he said, rubbing his hand across his blade slowly, eerily.

"I second that motion," Minato said, voice laced with a dark emotion.

"Yeah, let's dog-pile him!" Naoya yelled.

"Then, let's give him hell," Yu said. At that, they all leapt on the knight, striking with no remorse. Their attacks were brutal, yelling unintelligible phrases, not caring if the others could hear. Their gang attack managed to produce a large cloud of smoke, covering their actions as they showed no mercy to their fallen enemy. When the smoke cleared, a puddle of ichor remained where the knight once was. Standing above it was the guests, putting their weapons away once more.

"That was a nice way to release some pent up anger," Naoya said, earning a chuckle from Minato.

"Agreed," he simply said. The puddle of ichor rose into the air and shot off in the same direction as the previous one did earlier that day. They all turned their heads, watching it until it was out of sight. "Wherever it's going is where we need to be."

A bright flash of light appeared in front of the guests, forcing them to cover their eyes in fear of going blind. When they brought their gaze back in front of them they saw four large tarot cards with their backs facing them.

"This is…" Yu started.

"Shuffle Time," Minato finished. They both exchanged glances before bringing their attention back to the cards.

"Anybody want to fill me in?" Naoya asked, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Yeah, this seems like it could be important," Tatsuya said.

"Basically, after a battle, there could be a chance a set of cards could appear that may help us in the long run," Yu explained.

"We can obtain things like weapons, heal any injuries to an extent, gain even more power, or acquire a new Persona," Minato said. "However, that's not to say that it's without penalties…"

"Penalties?" Tatsuya asked.

"Right, should we end up choosing a Penalty Card, anything acquired during our battle would be lost," Yu said.

"Similarly, if we choose a cursed card, we could end up having an unexpected encounter with the Reaper," Minato said.

"Really? I never had that happen with me," Yu said to Minato.

"Hmm, I guess I must've been lucky," Minato mused. At that, the cards turned and revealed their faces. One had a red sword with the number 'one' on the corner, another had a blue cup with the same number on its corner. The third card was simply blank and the final card had four Personae printed on the front.

"What's up with the blank card?" Naoya asked.

"Should we end up choosing the blank card, we'll simply gain nothing," Yu said. In front of them, the cards turned back around and began to shuffle themselves at a rapid pace. The guests all kept their eyes on the cards as they moved for a few more seconds before stopping.

"Well, I think it'd be best if we come to an agreement on what we want," Tatsuya said.

"I'm fine with my current equipment and I don't think I need anything that needs healing right now. Anybody up for a new Persona?" Naoya said.

"Same here, a new larger repertoire of Persona can prove fruitful for later," Minato said.

"I can't disagree there," Yu simply said.

"Alright, then Persona it is," Tatsuya said. He slowly stepped forward towards the cards, looking them over once more. He walked to the rightmost card and looked back at the others. They gave him a quick nod of approval, allowing him to touch the card with the slightest amount of force applied to it. The card turned over, revealing four different Persona before vanishing in thin air, with the other cards doing the same. The guests suddenly felt new power enter their bodies, each taking in a deep breath at the sudden feeling.

"Forneus?" Naoya asked.

"Omoikane," Yu mumbled.

"So, I've got Ari Mitama then," Minato mused.

"Nata… Taishi?" Tatsuya muttered.

A pregnant silence filled the air between the four. "So that was Shuffle Time? That was pretty cool," Naoya said while smiling at the rest. "In fact, it's got me a bit more riled up for our adventure!"

"Right, however, I think we should continue another time," Yu said. None of them had noticed that night had fallen during their battle. The full moon shone bright in the night sky, illuminating the guests in their tattered clothes and bruised skin.

"Yu's right, we'll set up camp here for the night and continue early morning," Tatsuya said, dropping his weapon to the ground besides him.

"What if more demons come?" Naoya asked.

"We'll keep watch. Two hours each, we'll use the position of the moon to keep time. If any demons come, we'll wake each other up, none of us is taking them on alone," Tatsuya replied.

"I'm used to staying up late, so I'll take first watch," Minato said.

"I'll go after you," Naoya said.

"I guess I'll take watch after that," Yu commented.

"With me taking the final watch," Tatsuya said. Everybody gave a nod of approval and proceeded to get comfortable on the ground. Minato opted to stand up, noting that he'd fall asleep quickly if he relaxed.

"Hey, since it's going to be a while before we fall asleep. Minato, do you mind telling us a little bit more about that Pharos kid?" Yu asked. Minato saw nothing wrong with this and gave him a small grin, shaking his head to move his hair from over his right eye. From behind Minato came the boy clad in prison clothing.

"Hello again," Pharos said with a wide smile on his innocent face.

"Hi there," Naoya replied.

"Hello," Yu greeted.

"Hmph," Tatsuya grunted out.

"Alright then, I think it'd be best if we start from the beginning," Minato and Pharos said simultaneously.

* * *

 **I believe the biggest challenge of this story is giving everybody an equal spotlight. And by that I mean keeping my character bias on very low. I've noticed that I've been giving Naoya the least amount of attention and Minato has been getting the most of the four. With Tatsuya right behind Minato and Yu in between Naoya and Tatsuya. If you guys agree about that or feel differently, please let me know as I only want to make this story as pleasing as possible.**

 **Critique is always accepted and reviews are always nice.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: …Well Then**

 **\- Reviews**

 **EternalCombOver: See? Told ya it'd be soon! Although, it probably wasn't 'super-duper soon'. Going back, I have noticed that Tatsuya's been doing a lot of flips and whatnot. Minato saw an opportunity to achieve a life-long dream of performing a video game move (sound familiar?) and leapt at it. Literally.**

 **To hear that you felt as if Yu was given the least amount of spotlight was interesting and you raised a good point as to why you feel that way. I kind of want to portray each member to have different viewpoints on how they should go about fighting and their personalities throughout the story.**

 **Yu I want to be more of a strategist rather than an all-out brawler. If they're in combat, he tries to reserve as much resources and energy as possible for any unexpected detours in the future. I also want him to be the voice of reason amongst them.**

 **I want Minato to just wanna throw down with anything that looks like it can throw a punch. I want him to be cocky and overly confident with his strength (which he should be considering just who he is), which will setup for events later on in the story. Tatsuya, I want to portray as somebody who gives into his anger incredibly quickly and loses sight of what's going on around him. Of course, this will fuck him over in a bunch of battles in the future.**

 **Naoya… well, you've got me there. I still got to flesh him out during fights.**

 **Also, I do see what you mean on how they don't use their Personas until after they've been body slammed a few times. I kind of wanted them to have the shared mindset of "If it can be beat without extra power, then beat it without extra power." However, I actually decided on having them implement their Personas more in battle just because I'm starting to enjoy writing them in use more.**

 **That was a long reply. Then again, you were the only review in the previous chapter, so I guess that evens it out. If I failed to address any mixed feelings you've had with the story up until now, then just let me know like you have so far!**

 **Extraneous: Well damn, I am late with this update. Hehehe, I bet you guys wanna kill me (trust me, I encourage the challenge). Last chapter the group survived their first day working together. This chapter, we'll see if they'll be able to do it again.**

 **Let the chapter commence**

It was the crack of dawn when Tatsuya gazed down upon the sleeping forms of his teammates. Naoya was splayed out on his back with his head being the closest body part to Tatsuya, snoring obnoxiously loud and drooling profusely. Minato was on his lying on his right side with his head close enough to almost graze Naoya's feet. His scarf was folded up neatly beneath his head and was being used as a pillow. He was a quiet sleeper for the most part, periodically taking in deep breaths and shuffling in his sleep. Yu was the quietest sleeper out of them however, quiet to the point where Tatsuya found himself leaning in Yu's unconscious body throughout his shift to check if he was still breathing. Yu's sleeping position was the weirdest, yet most natural out of all of them. For Yu's body was not tangled along the ground like a carnival contortionist, nor was he stretched out like a normal person. No, Yu managed to slumber peacefully, facing away from the group and sitting almost upright with his legs crossed in front of him. His arms were crossed as well, and his head drooped forward. In between all of them, their respective weapons were piled on top of each other rather haphazardly, the group throwing them onto the ground lazily while Minato prepared to tell them his life story the previous night.

Tatsuya remembered how Minato digressed from the story when Yu had told him that he met his old team before during a brief investigation inside a television (that had earned some curious looks from the other three), and another in his hometown of Inaba. He remembered Minato beaming happily when he was given descriptions of what his team had been like when they encountered Yu and his team, chuckling when Yu had gone in-depth with each of them.

Tatsuya looked back up to the sky, taking note of the moon almost having completely disappeared in the morning sky. The sun was creeping upwards on the horizon slowly, prepared to color the sky an infinite amount of bright colors. Had they not been in their current situation, Tatsuya would've remained here for a long while. It reminded him of better times, before everything went to hell. Tatsuya slowly nudged Naoya's head with his foot.

"Hey, get up," Tatsuya urged, gently nudging him again when Naoya remained motionless. When the only response he received was that of Naoya rolling over, Tatsuya clicked his tongue in irritation and then kneeled down. He placed his hand on Naoya's back and shook him with some extra force. "Come on, wake up," Tatsuya said. He heard Naoya groan and then mumble something incoherent before he tried to lift himself up from off of the ground. Failing at first, and then succeeding the second time.

Naoya wiped the already dried up drool from his face and let out a loud yawn. Raising his arms above his head and stretching his body for a brief moment.

"Help me wake the others," Tatsuya simply requested. Earning a lazy nod from Naoya. Tatsuya stepped towards Minato's slumbering form and put a hand on his shoulder. He shook him lightly and told him to wake up. A deep exhale came from Minato as he slowly raised his head and looked around. He looked on his shoulder and saw Tatsuya's hand, quickly narrowing his eyes in suspicion but then relaxing. He rose to his feet and looked Tatsuya in the eyes. They were silent, but then nodded to each other.

A few feet away, Naoya was gently tapping Yu's shoulder, trying to wake him up as requested from Tatsuya. "Hey dude, come on, we gotta get rolling," Naoya said. Yu straightened up rather quickly, quick enough for Naoya to jump slightly. Yu's eyes opened up wide and his body tensed up for a brief moment, he quickly calmed down and stood up. He rubbed his eyes and gave a deep inhale, exhaling after a few seconds. He gazed at his other teammates and then towards the sky.

"Hey, what time is it?" Yu asked.

"Early," Minato responded, voice still groggy from being woken up.

"Hilarious," Naoya sarcastically muttered. He turned away from the group, seeing the train tracks along the ground eased his mind, having an irrational fear of them waking up somewhere else on this godforsaken planet.

"Everybody grab your weapons, the sooner we get moving, the sooner we'll reach our destination," Tatsuya said. With that, everybody geared up and started moving along their original path.

"By the way, how will we be able to tell that we've reached the hiding spot of the first fragment?" Naoya asked, yawning after he finished speaking.

"Something tells me that we won't be able to miss it," Yu said, rummaging through the bag of items and doing a quick count of what they had. For the most part they seemed pretty set on items, a few bottles of medicine and jars of chewing souls filled most of the bag. A small pouch of traesto gems were at the bottom, being put in a different pouch to assure they didn't unintentionally shatter during a scuffle. A few beads used for getting somebody back on their feet in a fight were at the bottom in another small pouch, and that was basically it for their supplies.

"And that something is?" Naoya asked.

"Woman's intuition?" Minato joked, earning a glare from Yu and a light chuckle from Naoya; even Tatsuya smiled slightly at the comment. "Relax kid, I was joking." Minato reassured, laughing quietly to himself.

"Joking, right…" Yu muttered. Then, he chuckled to himself shortly after. "Actually, hang on, I have an idea."

"And that is?" Tatsuya questioned. Yu stopped in his tracks, and everybody else did the same eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"Hey… Elizabeth? Are you there?" Yu said.

" _Now and forevermore,"_ Elizabeth could be heard saying.

"Just how far is the first fragment?" Yu asked her. Everybody hummed in realization, wondering why they didn't think about doing that.

" _Ah yes, the first fragment can be found approximately twenty miles in the direction you are headed,"_ Elizabeth announced to them.

Tatsuya tilted his head downwards and rubbed his chin. "Twenty kilometers? If we convert that to miles, that'll be…"

"Around twelve miles," Naoya spoke up. Tatsuya gave him a grunt of approval while Yu turned to him and gave him a thumbs-up in thanks, a gesture returned by Naoya.

"Alright, thanks Elizabeth," Yu said.

" _You need not show gratitude to me, I am only performing my duties,"_ she responded. With that, everybody faced each other.

"So now we know how far away it is," Naoya said.

"Twelve miles, eh? That's a decently long walk," Minato said, fixing his messy hair and realigning his scarf around his neck.

"Well then, we better get a move on," Yu assured. Nobody said anything, as there was nothing to be said and only continued moving at their previous pace.

The sun was much higher in the sky now after they had been walking for what felt like a few hours. They hadn't been attacked yet, but that didn't mean their guards weren't up. They had decided to walk along the train tracks instead of just walking besides them for some unexplainable reason.

It just felt right.

Currently, Yu and Minato were having an idle conversation, while Tatsuya and Naoya chose to stay silent. Content with listening in on the two youngest members.

"I'll admit, I've newfound respect for you Narukami. You managed to have a healthy relationship with all of your female teammates and others ho you went to school with without them finding out. Color me impressed," Minato said.

Yu chuckled warmly at Minato, "It wasn't too hard, it was just talking to the right girls at the right time y'know?" He said. "Surely you went through the same."

"Oh me? Nah. There was a time where I considered it, but chose against it. A relationship with every female social link I had didn't seem smart. I may be a lot of things, but foolish is not one of them. If I had managed to mess up even slightly and they all figured out… that would be one fight where I would lose."

"Ah, I see…" Yu simply muttered.

"Tell me about your team," Minato suggested. Yu's eyes lit up like Christmas lights and he smiled from ear to ear.

"Oh sure! My first team members consisted of…"

Meanwhile, with Tatsuya and Naoya.

"They seem to be getting along," Naoya said, smiling to himself.

"Hmm," Tatsuya merely grunted out, flicking his lighter out of boredom. That earned the attention of Naoya, who pursed his lips in curiosity.

"If you don't mind me asking… what's up with the lighter?" He asked innocently enough. Tatsuya turned to look at Naoya, thinking about not answering his question. But then decided against it, where's the harm in a little story.

"It's like a good luck charm, I'm never without it. It kind of… helps me think," Tatsuya explained briefly to Naoya, flicking the lighter once more and then putting it in his pocket.

"Hmm, I was never one for good luck charms, I guess they just weren't my thing," Naoya said. Tatsuya hummed in understanding. The lighter was a gift from somebody special, so it was more as something to remember them by than it was a token of good luck.

"I see what you mean," Tatsuya mumbled.

"Hey guys," Yu called out. "Do you see that?" Everybody lined up next to him and looked ahead, squinting their eyes.

"Yeah, it's pretty far off, but I can see something," Minato said. He was leaning forward; his right hand was being used to keep the sun out of his eyes as he strained to see what it was.

"It looks like… it could be a city," Tatsuya guessed.

"Or what's left of one," Naoya mumbled. "Honestly, I'm surprised we didn't notice it sooner, what with how cluttered things have been getting recently," he said. Aiming the remark at the increasing amount of building remains that littered the areas around them.

"Yeah well, name one city that has perfectly fine train tracks running through them," Minato said.

"All of them," Yu, Naoya and Tatsuya answered simultaneously. Minato deadpanned, realizing now that he had asked an incredibly dumb question.

"This must be what Junpei used to feel like back on the team," Minato said to nobody in particular.

"Hey, you guys think we could find something good there?" Naoya asked.

"You mean like… make a supply run?" Yu asked. Naoya nodded vigorously. "Well, I checked what we had earlier and we're not drastically low on anything."

"But it's never bad to have more supplies than you need," Tatsuya told Yu. "And besides, the tracks end here." Everybody looked towards the ground to see that he was right. The train tracks they had been following all this time had just abruptly stopped. "Consider that our first checkpoint," he said, pointing to the direction they were headed in.

" _I apologize if I'm interrupting something, but I sense five enemies from above,"_ Elizabeth said. The group jerked their heads up in response to what Elizabeth had informed. A cacophony of giggles could be heard as five sultry figures descended from the skies. Their attire left little to the imagination, leather covering only what needed to be covered and then leading into a collar wrapped loosely around their necks. Their eyes were blindfolded with the same leather and their white feathered wings were large enough to envelope most of their bodies. Their hair was long and blonde, reaching down to their already covered breasts. They quickly reached ground level and circled the group.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" One of them said, tapping their cheek with their index finger.

"We've got a handful of hotties giving us the evil eye," another mused.

"Oh, but we angels have got them outnumbered by one," a third said, pouting her lips in disapproval.

A fourth floated up to her and hugged her from behind. "Well then we'll just have to share one of them, right?" That earned her a hearty laugh from her compatriots.

"Y'know, for a bunch of angels, you ladies seem pretty naughty," Minato mused, a small grin creeping on his face.

"Oh stop, you'll hurt our feelings," the fifth angel said. "I don't like you… your silent friend however," she said, floating over towards Tatsuya. She got up close in front of him, close enough to where he could feel her hot breath on his face. She creeped her fingers along the base of his chest, yet he still didn't move, opting to remain perfectly still. Her hands reached both sides of his neck, her grip gentle and sweet. "Don't worry, I'll fit your needs," she whispered to him, her lips inching closer to his.

Faster than anybody could even blink, Tatsuya swiped his blade from its sheathe and slashed at her throat, trying to decapitate her. However, all he sliced was the air that she had once occupied. "Ooh, he's feisty, I want him," the angel said, giggling all the while.

"Now, now, we have to see what his friends are like, right?" The first angel asked. "Though I'm sure they'll exceed our standards," she said, blowing a kiss towards Yu, who only tensed up at the action.

"Well, looks like this is happening," Naoya said. He reached down towards his pants and prepared to unbuckle them, only to be shoved by Yu.

"What are you doing?!" He asked him in shock.

"Relax, I was just joking," Naoya calmly answered, drawing his sword. Besides them, Minato fought hard to stifle a laugh, but Yu still noticed.

"Are Tatsuya and I the only ones taking this seriously?" When nobody replied, he merely sighed and unsheathed his sword. "Though, I'm not really a fan of attacking women," he said under his breath.

' _They have only one weakness: Darkness. I am sure you know what to do with this information,'_ Elizabeth said.

"I don't think I got any dark spells on me, you guys got any?" Naoya asked. When he was given no response, he sighed in disappointment and readied himself.

"Time to give this Persona a try," Minato said with a low chuckle. "Ari Mitama, Sukukaja!" he called out, crushing a tarot card. What could only be described as an upside-down, red raindrop appeared in front of him. It was scowling furiously, and its eyes had no pupils. It shook quickly and then stopped, a green light enveloping Tatsuya. He looked at Minato and then half-smiled in thanks, only for Minato to nod at him.

"Right," Tatsuya said. He leaned forward slightly and pushed off the ground, running at the angels with increased speed, he reached them quickly and swiped horizontally, once again meeting air. The five angels separated and flew in random patterns, giggling at Tatsuya's failed attempt to bisect one of them. "Let's see what you've got," Tatsuya mused. A tarot card formed in front of him and he slashed it in half. "Nata Taishi, Sonic Punch!" From in front of Tatsuya, a youth appeared from thin air. He wore a red sash around his shoulders and small, skin tight shorts. He stood on flaming wheels as big as his feet were. He grinned from ear to ear and then blasted off, moving at incredible speeds straight for two of the angels. His left fist glowed a fluorescent blue as he quickly caught up to them, then, without warning, he slammed it into the cheek of one of the angels. The powerful punch had enough force to cause her neck to produce a snapping sound, sending her flying into the ground. She remained motionless for a long while, and then turned into a puddle of black ichor.

"Good heavens," the other angel gasped out. Nata Taishi spun around quickly, grabbing her by the throat and then flinging her towards Tatsuya. His grip on his sword increased as he readied himself for the incoming angel. He raised his blade and sliced down vertically, bisecting her perfectly. Her body split in two, one half colliding with the remains of a building in the background, while the other dissolved into ichor in midair.

"Hey, don't go stealing the spotlight now!" Naoya called out, running past Tatsuya and crushing a tarot card. "Forneus, let's start things off with a bufu!" A silver sea monster with dark purple specks covering its body, bearing a small resemblance to a manta ray floated above Naoya. It let out a bestial roar and shot a large chunk of ice out of its mouth that was sent flying at another angel. She dodged it with great ease, putting her right arm behind her head and using her left to blow a kiss at Naoya. "Don't fall for me just yet," he murmured, and crushed another tarot card, causing Seimen Kongou to form next to Forneus. "Try this on for size!" Naoya yelled as both of his Personas prepared an attack. Forneus shot out multiple bufu shards and Seimen Kongou punched the air in front of him, shooting out powerful winds that propelled the ice chunks at the angel even faster than before.

"This is a new trick, I like clever boys," the angel said, dodging each shard in the air with a form that looked like she was dancing elegantly.

Naoya clicked his tongue in irritation and pulled out his gun, trying to aim carefully and fire at her. Only for her to easily dodge each bullet by flying in a random pattern. "God dammit, is staying still too much for you?" He sarcastically asked.

"Boys like you shouldn't be playing with dangerous weapons like these," the angel said, flying at Naoya while dodging bullets. She closed in, slapping his gun out of his hand and grabbing him by the cheeks. "At least, not unless you're playing with your friends, of course," she whispered. She planted her lips on his against his will, moaning as she forcefully made out with him. When she pulled back, there was a string of saliva between them and Naoya's irises were now a shade of pink.

"Right… with friends," he mumbled, slowly turning around to face Yu and Minato.

' _Naoya has been charmed, he shall be striving to eliminate you,'_ Elizabeth informed.

"Again with the ailment?" Minato rhetorically asked. "At this point, I'm going to have to ask these guys to just kill him to save us the trouble," he said. Yu shot him a dark glare before opening the bag.

"Do we have anything for being charmed in here?" he asked, rummaging quickly as Naoya started running at them.

"I've got something, just leave it to me," Minato said, walking to meet Naoya halfway.

"Uh sure," Yu said, turning to face one of the other angels.

"Y'know Minato, you'd probably be hot if you were a girl," Naoya said, tightening his grip on his sword increasing his speed.

"You're not the first to tell me that, but thanks anyways," Minato mused, dashing at Naoya. Their blades met each other in the center with a loud 'clink' ringing through the air. Minato pulled back and aimed an uppercut for Naoya's jaw. Naoya jerked his head to the side, Minato's gauntlet just barely grazing Naoya's cheek.

Naoya pulled back and tried to decapitate Minato, only for him to raise his sword and block the attack. The force applied to the slash was much more than Minato had anticipated and it caused him to lose balance and fall sideways. He caught himself with his left hand and pushed off of the ground, landing on his feet. He looked up just in time to see Naoya with a madman's look, dashing at him with his sword being dragged along the ground. Naoya swiped upwards but Minato caught it with his right gauntlet. Naoya looked shocked for a second before Minato aimed a powerful thrust kick at Naoya's gut. The attack was true and it caused Naoya to lose his grip on his sword as he was sent rolling along the ground.

"Here," Minato warned, tossing Naoya's blade on the ground besides him. Naoya saw his pink eyes reflected in the blade and halted his movement for a second. He shook his head and picked his sword up, turning back to Minato. "Let's continue," he said, beaming with excitement.

"Mmm, does this suit you, love?" The angel asked, clasping her hands together and smiling. She mumbled something incoherent and then spread her arms out wide, casting a spell aimed for Yu. Below him, the ground lit up and suddenly he was surrounded by paper charms with Japanese writing on them.

"Oh crap," he said, realizing that she had cast a Hama spell. He jumped backwards just as the spell exploded, narrowly dodging a possible death (he recalled times where either he or Naoto would cast the spell and the target would remain unfazed, he liked to play safe however). When he looked at where the angel was, he was shocked to see that she had vanished. He readied his defense, prepared for her to strike at any moment. He looked to his right and saw her making a beeline for him, arms extended forward to snatch him up and do God knows what to him. He quickly ducked the attack, summoning Izanagi to his side. Izanagi bent his arms at his side and charged a small torrent of electricity in his hand. "Do it!" Yu yelled, causing Izanagi to release the electricity amassed in his hand in the form of a projectile straight at the angel.

"That's unique," she said, twirling to avoid the zio sent her way. Yu made Izanagi shoot another, more powerful zio, but the end result was still the same. "Keep 'em comin', big boy!"

"Tch, let's try something new for a change," Yu mused as Izanagi vanished. "Omoikane, Zio," He said, summoning his new persona. A floating brain with purple eyes and tentacles appeared above him. At the ends of each tentacle was another eye, with black slits for irises. It moved its tentacles in a random pattern before they all shot upwards, summoning a dark storm cloud. Yu raised his sword above him as lightning shot out from the cloud, charging the sword with electricity.

"Oh how fancy, mind if I have a look see?" One of the angels asked, flying at Yu with increased speed, licking her lips in anticipation.

Yu grinned to himself. "Yeah, I'll come to you," he murmured, running at the angel. He jumped and raised his sword, yelling as he was moments from colliding with the angel. The angel, came ever so close to Yu and then changed her direction of flight on a dime, causing Yu to miss the attack and stab the ground instead. However, the noise that was made was one of a cracking sound, like glass had shattered.

The angel turned back at Yu and grabbed him from behind, massaging his chest seductively. "That was a close one, I'm really having fun with you," she whispered in his ear. "Let's continue this dance forever," she murmured lustfully, peppering kisses down the left side of his neck. She opened her mouth, revealing long, sharp canines as she made to bite down into his neck.

Then suddenly, a bolt of lightning crashed into the Earth behind her and a figure descended and slashed her in half vertically. Her mouth remained opened as she split apart, dissolving into the ground behind Yu. "Sorry, I'll dance with you some other time," he mused, turning around to look at Izanagi. His was knelt down and his spear was smeared in blood, although, it would probably be clean the next time he was summoned. Izanagi vanished and Yu turned to see Naoya's and Minato's blades clashing.

"That's quite the 'something' you've got there, Minato," Yu mumbled to himself, annoyed at Minato's obnoxious smile covering most of his face. _'One of these days, his thirst for fighting is going to jeopardize the team,'_ he thought to himself.

Minato and Naoya clashed attacks continuously, however, Naoya's had more force put behind them as Minato was slowly being pushed back. They were only a few feet in front of an overturned building when Naoya tried a downwards slash that Minato blocked with a horizontal guard above him head. Chortling stupidly from being under the enemy's influence, Naoya raised his right leg and slammed it into Minato's side. The blow elicited a grunt of pain from Minato and the force sent him flying clean into the building, rubble covering where Minato had fallen. Naoya stalked forward and lifted the debris slowly, readying his blade for when Minato showed his face. When he lifted another piece of debris, a fist came out and collided with his jaw, sending him flying back and landing flat on his back. Minato pushed the remaining rubble off of him and got up, his scarf no longer around his neck and his clothes dirtied and damaged.

Naoya got up and rubbed his aching chin, his eyes returning to their original brown. "Ugh, what the hell just happened?" he asked.

"You got charmed, and I had to deal with you," Minato answered. "It was much more difficult to fix than the last person, all I had to do was slap him."

"Looking at myself, I'm not sure if that should be taken as a compliment," Naoya mused. His clothes were dirtied and slightly shredded from his fight with Minato.

"Vulcanus!" Tatsuya shouted, his persona forming in front of him, beyond furious over how the two angels were refusing to just die already. Vulcanus spread his arms out wide and then aimed them forward, shooting multiple fireballs at them. They dodged each fireball gracefully and easily, coming close together and then flying for Tatsuya. They crashed into Vulcanus, shattering him with the greatest of ease, causing Tatsuya pain and only angering him even further. They got close and then circled around him, picking up speed quickly as he made failed attempts to chop them into bits. His rage only increased as he was being slowly enveloped in a green twister, the laugh of the angels increasing in volume. Tatsuya stopped his attacking and forced himself to calm down, his scowl slowly turned into a grin, followed by a dark chuckle.

"We're glad to see you're finally enjoying yourself," one of the angels said, floating in the twister besides Tatsuya.

Another descended slowly and floated dangerously close to his face. "We can make the fun last forever, we know you want it too," she whispered. Her voice, sultry as her lips were only centimeters from Tatsuya's neck.

"Sure, but first, I want you girls to enjoy yourselves," he whispered. He quickly ducked and grabbed an angel by the ankle, impaling the ground with his sword and tightening his grip on the angel. She cried out in agony as his grip was causing her intense pain. The other angel quickly flew out of the twister, only to be beheaded cleanly by Yu once she got out. "Maragi!" Tatsuya yelled, causing fire to shoot out in multiple directions from his sword. The fire combined with the walls of the twister, causing the heat inside to intensify. Bits of flames flew off of the walls, burning parts of Tatsuya's outfit. Tatsuya let go and the angel tried to escape the twister, only to back off from the immense heat. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you aren't enjoying yourself," Tatsuya mocked, pulling his sword out.

The angel ceased her futile attempts of escape and faced Tatsuya, her mouth formed in a pure scowl. "You bastard!" She yelled out, charging straight for Tatsuya. He crushed a tarot card and Vulcanus formed in front of him, grabbing her by the face.

"Make it hurt," Tatsuya said. Vulcanus complied, heat forming in the hand that was holding the angel.

She gasped in realization of what was about to happen, but couldn't do anything as an intense fire shot out from Vulcanus' hand. Her scream, one of pure agony, continued for a few more seconds before her body went limp. Vulcanus let go and her body dropped to the ground, the twister around them dissipating. Tatsuya sheathed his sword and looked at her body dissolving, Yu already making his way towards him. They both turned to see Minato and Naoya walking towards them.

The ichor that was once a group of angels slowly rose into the air like the ichor from before and combined together into a compressed ball. It shot out east, in the direction that the group had been headed in originally.

"Hey, Elizabeth, how much further until we reach the first fragment?" Tatsuya asked.

' _Less than one mile of walking. From there, the first fragment will be located in a mazelike structure beneath you,'_ Elizabeth informed.

"I guess that means we were going to that city, anyways," Minato said.

"Yup, but I'm confused as to the meaning of 'mazelike structure' beneath us," Naoya pondered.

"We'll find out when we get there," Tatsuya said. Nobody spoke, not knowing what to say. It was then that Yu spoke up.

"You guys look like you've been through a lot," Yu joked, the only one who didn't look like he had been to hell and back. "Or maybe, I haven't been through enough."

"Yeah… let's go with that," Naoya said, laughing to himself. A pregnant silence filled the air between them, Yu decided to take this opportunity to go through their item bag.

"Um, let's see… Tatsuya, you seemed to do the most… killing… so, will this Chewing Soul be good for you?" Yu asked, pulling one out and handing it to Tatsuya.

"… Thanks," Tatsuya said, reluctantly taking the bottom of purple liquid from Yu, downing it with a distinct lack of vigor. "Ugh, I'll never get used to that taste."

"For Minato and Naoya, you guys can have some medicine," Yu said, pulling out two small bottles and tossing them to Minato and Naoya. They both caught them easily and downed them.

"Horrible before and horrible now," Minato groaned out.

"That ain't half bad," Naoya said. Yu replied with a 'I know right?', causing them to get into a conversation over how they were the only ones in their respective teams to actually enjoy the taste of medicine.

Tatsuya looked into the sky, the sun was still rather high in the sky, meaning that fight was much shorter than what it felt like. "Hey, let's hurry up and get moving," Tatsuya said. Everybody gave him an expression of agreement and then proceeded on their original path.

"Wait, hold on!" Naoya yelled. Turning around and running back to where they had fought the angels.

"I forgot to grab my gun!"

After what felt like at least another thirty minutes of walking, they had arrived at the remnants of a city plaza. Most of the smaller buildings had crumbled, but the larger ones managed to remain standing, albeit barely. The roads that met in the center had mostly become dirt, the concrete being completely destroyed.

"Would you get a look at this? It might be in bad taste saying this, but this is pretty cool," Minato said, looking around at the plaza.

Yu walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It is in bad taste, horrible taste actually."

"Guys, this building here was a supermarket," Naoya said. "I'm going to go around, have a look see, you coming with me Yu? Hopefully, we'll find some stuff." Yu nodded in agreement and made his way to Naoya. "Do you guys mind keeping watch? Let us know if anything tries to kill you." With that, they made their way inside, leaving Minato and Tatsuya outside.

"Well I'll be damned. I'm standing in front of Atlus! Junpei would kill me if he found out where I was. The only game I recall playing was that 'Innocent Sin Online' game Junpei gave me… I didn't like it too much." Minato said, apparently gaining Tatsuya's attention. "Which reminds me… hey Tatsuya, you know anybody by the name of Maya?" Tatsuya went ramrod straight and inhaled deeply. "I'll take that as a yes."

"How do you know of her?" Tatsuya asked, slowly walking towards Minato.

"From a game I played a while ago, they were the names of the main protagonists," Minato informed him. "Did I manage to hit a nerve?" He asked.

Tatsuya hummed. "No it's just… I'll tell you later, along with the others," he said. Minato seemed to be satisfied with the answer as didn't say anything after that.

Tatsuya shook his head, trying not to think about what he heard. "Beneath us… what could that mean?" Tatsuya mumbled, putting his hand to his chin.

"We obviously know what it means, the question is 'how do we get there'?" Minato said, walking up besides Tatsuya.

"Hmm, try looking around, maybe we could find a lead," Tatsuya requested. Minato merely shrugged and then they split up.

"Yeesh, it's dark in here, I can barely see a thing," Naoya whispered.

"Quit over exaggerating, I can see just fine," Yu said, looking around the floor they were on. It was indeed a supermarket, or the remains of one. Almost everything had been turned to complete dust, and the place looked ransacked beyond all belief. "We're looking for the medical aisle, come on."

"Right… hey do you feel like you're being watched?" Naoya asked with beady eyes.

"Can't say I do," Yu said, looking down each, destroyed aisle for any medical supplies. Then, from the corner of his vision, Yu saw something scamper out of sight. He quickly turned and drew his sword from its sheath. "What was that?"

"I saw it too." Deep in the back of the store, something shuffled quickly, knocking over a few dirty bricks. "There it is again, Elizabeth, you getting anything?"

' _I sense two demons, relatively weak, yet non-hostile.'_

"Non-hostile?" Yu asked. He stood up straight and put his sword back in its sheath.

"Whoa, Yu what're you doing? It may be non-hostile now, but the moment it sees you're vulnerable… WHAM, you're dead!" Naoya yelled. Yu was quick to hush him, approaching the place where he assumed the demons were.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on hurting you," Yu said calmly. "I just want to look at you," he said. Slowly, two small figures came into view and crept forward. "That's it, we come in peace."

Naoya still kept one hand on his sword and the other was hovering over his gun, ready to grab it and tear those tiny demons apart. He squinted to get a better view at them, and was shocked to see who they were. "No way, it's-"

"Hee-Ho, we don't mean any trouble, hee-ho," Jack Frost said.

"Yeah, we were just hidin' out in here," Pyro Jack chimed in. He placed his lantern on the ground, a rarity for the pumpkin headed Jack, and gazed at Yu.

"Hiding from what?" Yu asked.

"Hee-Ho, hiding from the big guys," Jack Frost informed.

Naoya walked up to them. "What big guys?"

"The strong demons, they came here in a huge group, takin' out any other demon that crossed their path. Then, they went underground through the passageway," Pyro Jack said.

"Passageway? What passageway?" Yu asked.

"Hee-Ho, the one just behind this building here, Hee-Ho," Jack Frost told him. Yu turned around and nodded at Naoya, now knowing where they needed to go.

"Wait, you guys seem pretty strong, we wanna go with ya," Pyro Jack said.

"Go… with us?" Naoya asked.

"Yeah, Hee-Ho, we'll promise to help out whenever you want, Hee-Ho," Jack Frost offered.

"Hmm… alright, sure," Yu said.

"Wait, you're sure about this?" Naoya turned to Yu. When Yu only nodded, Naoya sighed. "Alright sure, you seem smart, so I guess I'll agree to it too." They both extended their arms to the Jack brothers who beamed gleefully.

"Hee-Ho, thank you!"

"Yeah, ya won't regret this!" They both placed their hands on Yu and Naoya's and transformed into tarot cards. They then vanished and Yu and Naoya were both engulfed in light.

"Welcome to the team Jack Frost," Yu said.

"You too, Pyro Jack," Naoya spoke. "Now, to tell Minato and Tatsuya," Naoya said.

"But first, we have to get more supplies."

Yu and Naoya were turning the corner when they saw Minato, Tatsuya and Pharos already waiting for them. Tatsuya was leaning against the supermarket wall, flicking his lighter periodically, while Minato opted to simply sit down on the ground and mimic Yu's sleeping position. The only difference was that Minato wasn't sleeping, instead deep in thought over something he chose not to share. Pharos was sitting on the railings leading down to a subway station, swinging his legs in the air playfully.

"So you guys found it, huh?" Naoya asked. Minato nodded and Tatsuya remained silent.

"How did you figure it out?" Minato asked.

Yu opened his hand and revealed his new Persona. "We got tipped off," he simply said. Minato gave Yu a complimentary whistle and stood up straight.

"So I guess this means your supply run went well then," Tatsuya said.

"I guess you can say it did," Naoya said. He walked forwards and looked down the stairs. "So the first piece is in here then?" At the base of the stairs was a black door covered in red energy. There was an odd heat coming from it, and a distinct pressure being given off.

Yu opened the item bag and counted off what they had out loud. "We've got eight bottles of medicine, four jars of chewing souls, a pouch containing five traesto gems… um, oh! We found a carton of eggs in the store, and I remember them working magic on my energy whenever I felt tuckered out."

"Tuckered out? People still say that?" Naoya asked.

Yu ignored his cheeky remark and continued. "Another pouch, this one containing revival beads, two tubes of ointments for applying to our wounds and… a pouch of peach seeds."

"Peach seeds?" Tatsuya asked, eyes never wavering from his lighter.

"Yeah… you never tried peach seeds?" Yu asked.

Tatsuya shook his head. "I'm not a fan of things I can easily choke on."

Yu sighed in understanding. "That's a reasonable reason to avoid them, but you're actually not supposed to swallow. You just chew them up until there's nothing left."

"I'll see you try one first before I give it a shot," Tatsuya said as Yu put the bag back on his back.

Just then, besides the entrance to the subway station, appeared a blinding light. Everybody looked away for a quick second and looked back when the light had dimmed. Next to the railings stood a bright, velvet door that the group immediately recognized as the entrance to the Velvet Room.

"It would appear as if you're being called for a meeting," Pharos mused, still swinging his feet playfully.

"That's what it seems like," Minato said, standing up and stretching. Pharos hopped off of the railing and vanished in a wisp of smoke, the smoke making its way to Minato before seeping into his body. Tatsuya removed himself from the supermarket wall and started walking towards the Velvet Door.

"Better not keep the big guy waiting," Naoya said, making his way towards Tatsuya. Yu and Minato were behind him, patiently waiting for the door to open. Tatsuya put his hand on the doorknob, twisting it and pushing the door open, stepping inside. Everybody followed behind him, with Minato closing the door.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted from his seat behind the table. Seated beside him were Margaret and Elizabeth, while Philemon stood by the table. It was as if none of the denizens chose to move from their respective spots from when last the guests were in the Velvet Room.

"I do hope I have been a satisfactory support member to your team," Elizabeth said.

"You've been the best," Minato said with a flirtatious wink, making Elizabeth blush once again. Besides her, Margaret narrowed her eyes at Minato. "Oh? Do you have eyes for me now, Margaret?"

"Now, now, let's not digress from the matter at hand," Philemon said, raising a hand. The guests stepped forward and took their seats, the chairs from before still in the same place. "You've successfully found the location of the first fragment. However, the task of retrieving it shall not be an easy one."

"Yeah, we figured as much… or at least I did," Naoya said, scratching the back of his head.

"We've called you hear to further offer our services," Igor said. "As you are aware, I am in charge of the fusion of your Personas."

"Oh yeah, which reminds me, where's the old bone phone at?" Naoya said, leaning forward and looking around.

"We've yet to retrieve any tarot cards used for fusion," Tatsuya informed.

"Ah, forgive me you two, I've yet to inform you on how I now fuse Personas," Igor said. "My methods have changed over time, it should be more familiar to you two," he said, looking at Minato and Yu.

"Yeah, you show us the many possibilities, we decide on one and then…" Yu started.

"You grab the Personas being used in the fusion, smack them together and 'bam!': fusion," Minato finished. Both he and Yu exchanged impressed glances and then looked back at Igor.

"That's sounds must less awkward than having to watch Igor cry on the phone over some sob-story," Naoya said, chuckling over the memories he had of Persona fusion.

"Igor? Crying!? You've got some stories to tell my friend," Minato mused, placing his elbow on his chair's arm and resting his head in his hand.

"Moving on, I don't think I need anything fused right now, but thanks anyways," Yu said, bowing in his seat.

"The same goes for me," Tatsuya said.

"Me as well," Naoya remarked, leaning back in his seat.

"I only got two Personas, I think I'm fine," Minato said, already standing up.

"As always, our services are always available," Igor mentioned. With that, everybody else got out of their seats, bade farewell, and left the Velvet Room.

"Well that was… interesting," Naoya said, looking at the others.

"Sure I guess," Minato mumbled, adjusting his hair slightly.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, are we all ready?" Yu asked, already standing in front of the stairs. Everybody exchanged glances and stood beside each other, drawing their swords. "Let's do this."

With that, the group descended the stairs and opened the door leading into the unknown.

 **Again, this update is long overdue. But in the end, I'm glad to have gotten it out.**

 **Next chapter, the gang enter the first dungeon.**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Difficulty Spike Part I**

 **\- Reviews**

 **Rittie: I'm very pleased to hear that you're enjoying the story so far. Thank you for bringing up how you feel about Naoya's role in the story. I still feel as if he needs to be fleshed out a whole lot more in comparison to the rest of the team.**

 **EternalCombOver: Oh boy, I've done committed a writer's sin. Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing for me to do, hehe. S &M Angels… every man's dream, and Naoya got the unfortunate luck of getting a kiss stolen by one. I'm glad to see that the combat is improving slowly but surely. Familiar? Which part? Minato talking about slapping somebody to uncharm them? Their entire battle? … Genderbend Minato? I dunno, I'm sure you'll figure it out. A reasonable qualm I suppose. Must've been a slow day for them, eh? Heh? Am I right? No? Nothing? But yeah, thanks for bringing that up. As I always say, critique is always accepted.**

 **NotteBoy: Rambling? Not at all, my friend. I try my hardest to take the perspectives of all readers into account and make sure the story is to the liking of everybody.**

 **Vangran: Whoops, looks like I'm still makin' typos. Thanks for letting me know!**

 **Extraneous: Gee, it's been awhile since my last update, huh? Oh well.**

 **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

As they stepped through the door, the air felt thick and the pressure around them increased. The door they had entered begun to close on its own, blocking them off from the outside world. It slammed shut hard, and was covered by a blinding light, forcing everybody to cover their eyes. When they looked back at where the door was, all that could be seen was a black wall, matching the décor of where they currently occupied.

"So much for going back," Naoya said, scratching his chin.

"Where are we anyways?" Yu asked, stepping in front of everybody and taking in their surroundings. The floor was a pattern of black and blue checkerboard tiles with puddles of blood covering random parts of the ground. The walls were purely black with splotches of blood on them and the ceiling was a royal blue with blood dripping down periodically. The halls were lit from an unknown source, but it was still too dim to see farther down the hall, without having to move forward.

"This must be the maze that Elizabeth mentioned," Tatsuya said. "Which means somewhere in here is the first fragment."

"If the first fragment is here, then that means we're most likely going to encounter some opposition," Minato mused, drawing his sword for an inevitable fight. Everybody did the same, easing into their preferred fighting stances.

The group looked straight ahead. The hall they stood in lead to a four-way intersection, giving them three paths to choose from, each option as mysterious as the last. They moved forward with beady eyes, anticipating even the slightest of movement in the dark corners of their vision. Nobody spoke as they stalked forward, their grips on their swords tightening with each step. When they arrived at the intersection, everybody released a breath they didn't realize they were holding.

"So… which hall do we go down?" Yu asked. The three halls to choose from were long and branched out into more halls, making the decisions all the more tedious to choose between.

"This takes me back to my long nights in Tartarus… most of the time we would just split up to find the stairs, but I don't think that'll work here," Minato said.

"And why not?" Tatsuya asked, sounding moderately curious.

"We would normally do that when we were confident we could hold our own against a group of shadows. But these demons we've been encountering seem a tad bit more hardcore; therefore, it'd be wise to stay as a group for now."

' _I'm sensing a group of demons heading your way. Prepare yourself for combat,'_ Elizabeth said.

"Speak of the devil," Minato said.

"I believe 'demons' would be the proper term here," Naoya corrected, chuckling at his own. Everybody tensed up when they heard the sounds of a stampede coming from the three dark halls, getting louder as it got closer to the group. "Get ready guys," Naoya muttered, summoning a tarot card in preparation.

From the darkness of the halls came a legion of tiny green organisms, bouncing towards the group. They were shaped like a worm and had red eyes that bugged out of their heads; they let out high-pitched squeaks with each bounce and stopped moving when they surrounded the group.

"What the hell are these?" Minato questioned, relaxing when he looked down at the organisms.

' _These are slimes and I do suggest you not take them lightly,'_ Elizabeth informed.

"And why's that?" Minato said, making to step on a few. Suddenly, the slimes converged together in seven large groups and started to merge at an alarming rate. The larger organisms they were creating started to take shape, letting out a bestial roar as it slowly came to. When they finally formed, they were large, bulky and their faces were gnarled beyond belief. They all roared at the group simultaneously, slamming their slimy fists together.

"You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" Tatsuya mocked Minato.

"… Right. Elizabeth, weakne-" Minato's speech was halted as a fist slammed into his gut with terrifying force, sending him flying down the hall to the right. The large slime that struck Minato swung his left arm in a horizontal arc in an attempt to hit the others, but they were too fast.

They all ducked and then leaped in different directions to gain more space. One of the slimes reached out and grabbed Tatsuya's leg midair and then slammed him into the ground in front of them. He hit the ground hard, the force of the slam cracked the floor beneath him. The slime above him let out a loud roar at Tatsuya. It jumped up and made to slam down on Tatsuya but he reacted quickly. He cracked a tarot card and ignited his blade, he swiped the air above him and shot out a small wave of fire, incinerating the slime until it fell apart. Tatsuya rolled out of the way from the rain of slime and hopped back on his feet, taking note of the puddle forming on the ground.

"It's fire! They're weak to fire!" Tatsuya yelled, jumping back to avoid a wide swing from another muscular slime.

"I guess this is the perfect opportunity," Naoya said, crushing a tarot card and summoning Pyro Jack. The Jack-O'-Lantern Persona laughed and shook his lantern, shooting out a multitude of flames at the slimes. The fireballs flew at wild angles, colliding with walls and zooming out of vision. A few fireballs slammed into the limbs of two of the slimes, burning them clean off. The slimes roared in pain and went wild, charging at Naoya and Yu.

Yu and Naoya jumped out of the way of the attack and both landed in a roll. From behind Yu, Minato came charging back into the fight. "You pieces of shit," he said, summoning Orpheus above him. Orpheus played a tune on his lyre and shot a fireball at one of the injured slimes. He exploded on contact and fell into a puddle on the ground. Minato then summoned Ari Mitama, who ignited his blade with a powerful flame. "I'm taking a page out of your book, Tatsuya," at that, he jumped on a wall and pushed off towards the other slime, his sword aimed straight forward. He shot clean through it and landed perfectly, the flames from his sword incinerating the slime behind him.

The fourth slime turned at Yu and charged at him. Yu didn't have time to react and was grabbed by both hands, dropping his sword to the ground. The slime started to squeeze hard, but Yu's arms were free. He crushed a tarot card and a bolt of lightning shot down from above the slime. The shock rocked it hard and it released Yu from its hold involuntarily. He landed on the floor and grabbed his sword, slashing wildly in front of him. When he stopped, all that remained on the floor in front of him was electrified bits of green slime.

"Well that wasn't so bad," Naoya said, scratching his head. As if to spite his words, the puddles converged together and began to bubble furiously. "… You've gotta be kidding me." The large puddle rose up from the floor and formed one large entity. It resembled the four muscular slimes from before, only larger and more horrendous.

"We know its weakness, we can take it down," Tatsuya said.

' _On the contrary, its weakness has been altered. In fact, I am sensing none from it,'_ Elizabeth said.

"Well shit," Minato scoffed. "Anybody got a plan?" The large slime roared and punched the ground with enough force to produce a powerful shockwave. Everybody jumped and charged at the slime. Tatsuya performed a downwards slash but got smacked out of the air. Naoya landed and summoned Pyro Jack. Jack shook his lantern, making to shoot more fireballs, but the slime was faster. He pulled his foot back and shot it forward, destroying the persona and forcing Naoya to block the attack. The force of the blow was too much as it still launched Naoya far backwards. Minato ignited his fist as he came down, aiming a strong punch at the slime's gut. The slime opened a hole in its torso and Minato simply fell through. Yu summoned Izanagi in a flash and then he shot forward, stopping right in front of the slime. Izanagi spun in the air and tried to decapitate the slime with his spear. The slime's head shrunk down into its body, narrowly missing the slash and delivered a powerful punch to Izanagi, shattering him to bits.

"Tch, Jack Frost!" Yu yelled, summoning his third persona. The tiny snowman appeared in front of Yu and shot out five shards of ice. The slime tried to smack each shard away with its right arm, only for the arm to be encased in ice. Suddenly, Vulcanus appeared beside the slime and smashed his knee into the frozen arm, shattering it successfully. The slime roared and formed another arm from its shoulder.

"Yu! Do that again!" Tatsuya yelled. Yu nodded his head and had Jack Frost shoot more ice at the slime. The shards collided with its body and froze the slime solid from the neck down.

From behind it, Orpheus rose up and lifted his lyre above his head. "Do it," Minato said. Orpheus' lyre smashed into the ice and it exploded into millions of tiny pieces. The slime's head fell to the ground pathetically. Everybody gathered around it and watched it shake around vigorously.

Naoya raised his foot and stomped on the remnant of the slime. "That was annoying," he simply said. Everybody hummed in agreement, slightly aching from the scuffle.

Three large tarot cards materialized behind the group, showing their faces for a brief moment. One had a blue cup, another had a green leaf and the third had a red sword. "Shuffle Time again," Yu said, scratching the back of his head. "What should we go for?"

"What do you guys say to getting stronger?" Minato asked, looking at everybody else.

"I'm fine with my equipment," Naoya said, twirling his sword in his hand.

"We have items for healing in the bag," Tatsuya said, looking at Yu.

"Then it's settled," Yu said. At that, the cards turned around and began to shuffle themselves incredibly quickly. Luckily, Yu was able to keep up with ease and moved towards the card that they agreed on. He tapped it and it turned around to reveal the green leaf before vanishing in a mote of light. Each member of the team was briefly enveloped in a bright light before getting a rush of power.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Naoya yelled.

"I guess you can say we've 'leveled up'," Yu joked.

"Yes… power," Minato mused. Tatsuya merely grunted besides them.

"Anyways, we've yet to decide on which hallway to go down," Yu said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Hey! Let's go," Tatsuya said, already making his way down the eastern hall. The others exchanged confused glances and shrugged their shoulders, following shortly behind Tatsuya.

"Elizabeth, how far is the fragment from where we're at?" Naoya asked, slightly trailing behind the team.

' _I apologize, but I cannot pinpoint its location. I am sensing too many forces at once.'_

"So it's essentially covering the energy of the fragment," Yu mumbled, quirking his eyebrows.

"If that's the case, then we'll be forced to rely on sheer instinct," Tatsuya said, quickening the pace.

"That's just a normal day dungeon crawling," Minato mused. The team trekked onward down the eerily empty hall. Further down was a bend leading into the unknown, but the team had hoped it led to the stairs. When they turned, all that was there was a small, silver chest sitting in front of a wall.

"Cool, treasure," Yu said, jogging towards the chest.

"Something doesn't seem right," Tatsuya muttered, already stepping back. "Yu, I advise you be careful when opening it."

"Relax, what's the worst that can happen?" Naoya asked, putting his elbow on Tatsuya's shoulder and using him as an arm rest. Yu kicked the chest with some force, grinning slightly at the thought of the treasures inside.

"Curiosity did kill the cat," Tatsuya mumbled.

"Yeah, but satisfaction brought it back," Yu replied, opening the chest.

"What's in it?" Minato asked, failing to hide the hints of excitement in his voice. In an instant, a giant torrent of black ichor exploded from the chest, forcing everybody to jump back. The black energy shot up and smashed into the ceiling, then an arm shot out and crashed into Yu slamming him into the wall far behind them. Everybody else quickly summoned their respective personas and instantly made to shooting elemental spells at the black arm. Bits and pieces fell off and formed into a puddle on the floor, but the arm refused to fall apart completely.

"What the hell is this thing!?" Naoya yelled, pulling out his gun and unloading on the black arm. The bullets tore through it but the holes they made simply closed up, the impact points looking as if the bullets never hit.

From where the hand was still residing against a wall, a powerful bolt of lightning struck, exploding the hand and releasing Yu from its strong hold on him. He fell and landed on his knees, taking in labored breaths. He rose to his feet and joined the rest of the team.

' _I sense no end to that abomination. Fighting it will merit nothing good,'_ Elizabeth chimed in.

"This won't end well if we stay and fight," Tatsuya said, moving away from the chest. The puddles of black ichor converged together and moved towards the chest that was still spewing out black energy. Another arm shot out from it, but everybody dodged this time.

"You basically just reiterated what Elizabeth said. We need to get out of here," Yu demanded, getting in a defensive stance in case anything else shot out.

"Sounds like a plan," Naoya said, cocking his submachine gun and aiming it at the torrent.

"We're going to need a boost in speed for our great escape," Minato said, crushing a tarot card and summoning Ari Mitama. The persona shook for a moment and everybody was suddenly enveloped in a green light. Another arm exploded out from the torrent, propelling itself straight for the team.

"Get moving!" Tatsuya yelled. At that, everybody turned tail and made a mad dash back the way they came, the black arm following close behind. Black ichor fell from the arm as it begun to get closer to the team, falling to the ground disgustingly, leaving a trail on the floor. The team quickly reached the three-way intersection of the halls, but didn't have time to think about which way to go. "Split up!" Tatsuya yelled, pumping his legs harder and increasing his speed as much as he could. Yu and Minato turned right, while Tatsuya and Naoya kept running straight, the arm making a sharp turn right to follow Yu and Minato. At the point it turned, another arm jutted out and shot down the hall Tatsuya and Naoya went down.

The hall Yu and Minato were running down was long, but eventually led into a large opening with a dead end. Yu didn't bother to turn around as he summoned Izanagi, barking out a command as he quickened his pace. Izanagi's grip on his spear intensified as he tried to cleave the arm in two, only for the hand to form a fist and punch straight through Izanagi. Yu gripped his head in pain, involuntarily slowing down and leaving himself vulnerable. Minato saw this and skidded to a stop, pivoting on his right foot and launching a kick to Yu's side, sending him flying out of the way of the arm. Minato then ran towards the wall in front of him and jumped on it. Using his increased momentum to push off with an increased amount of force. The black arm slammed into the wall Minato had pushed off of, exploding in another torrent of black ichor.

Minato landed beside the arm gracefully, Yu running up behind him while holding his ribs. "Did you have to do that?" Yu asked, standing beside Minato.

"Would you rather have me kick you in the ribs, or that thing break you in half? Besides, it feels good kicking you, and you seem like the type who puts his teammates interests before your own," he mused. The black ichor against the wall materialized back into a large hand and turned around, shooting back at the duo twice as fast. They both ducked right in time, with Minato summoning Ari Mitama once again. They were both once again given the gift of speed and they ran back in the opposite direction of the dead end.

Naoya and Tatsuya weren't fairing any better, running as fast as they could away from the impending mass of ichor. "So uh, how long do you think this hall goes on for?" Naoya asked in between breaths.

"I don't kno—DUCK!" Tatsuya yelled, lowering his position. Naoya did the same when he saw why, narrowly avoiding three Zhen flying straight for them. The Zhen flew over their heads and got grabbed by the black hand. They were crushed quickly and brutally, being absorbed into the ichor. Naoya and Tatsuya adjusted themselves quickly, exchanging shocked glances.

"Get ready to turn!" Naoya yelled, spotting the start of another hallway. Tatsuya skidded into the turn, almost crashing into the wall, while Naoya grabbed the corner of the wall and used it to alter his direction. The hall they turned into led into a large open square that had six support beams placed in two even rows with another hallway at the end. Tatsuya and Naoya split up and used the pillars as cover, the arm crashing into the pillars and puddles of ichor formed on the ground. "Shit, what should we do about Yu and Minato!?"

"I'm sure they're fine!" Tatsuya yelled. He crushed a tarot card and summoned Vulcanus, the persona flying straight for the black arm. He grabbed it and ignited his fists, setting the arm clean on fire. Vulcanus increased the flames shooting out from his hands, making to burn the arm apart, but another hand shot out from the arm, grabbing Vulcanus by the face and crushing its head. Tatsuya grabbed his head and growled in a combination of pain and anger.

Suddenly, the arm stopped moving and fell limp to the ground. Naoya and Tatsuya poked their heads out from behind the pillar in curiosity. Banging and small explosions could be heard from the distance, further increasing their shared curiosity. From the hallway, both Yu and Minato rolled forward with their swords in hand.

"Now! Do it!" Minato yelled to Yu, crushing a tarot card and summoning Orpheus. Orpheus quickly grabbed his lyre and slammed it into

Yu nodded his head and summoned Jack Frost and barked out a 'Bufula!' at the small snowman. Jack Frost rose his right arm and waved his hand, summoning a large icicle from beneath the black arm. The ice encased it cleanly and Orpheus vanished quickly. "Quick! I don't think that'll last!" Yu yelled, sprinting for the next hall. Naoya and Tatsuya got up and followed him with Minato not too far behind them, the effects of Sukukaja wearing off.

At the end of the hall they were running down was a small room, dark room. The only source of light was coming from the door at the bottom of the long stairs in the corner. Behind the group, the ice encasing the black arm rumbled furiously and then shattered, freeing the arm. It remained still for a split second before blasting straight for the team. They all saw the stairs simultaneously and dashed for it, fully aware of their impending doom right behind them. They all jumped for it, tumbling down the stairs and landing in a pile on the bottom. The large arm reached the stairs but slammed into an invisible wall, ichor flying out in numerous directions.

"What the hell?" Naoya asked. "A barrier?" Above them, the arm continued to bash itself against the barrier in futile attempts to break through. Finally, it stopped its onslaught and vanished back to whence it came.

"I don't want to stay and find out if it's coming back," Tatsuya said, pushing everybody off of him and getting up. He placed his hand on the doorknob and pushed the door open, not bothering to look back. Everybody followed behind him, and Minato - being the last person through - slammed the door shut.

"Just what was that thing!?" Minato yelled in between breaths.

"We're just as clueless as you are buddy," Naoya said, hunched over trying to catch his breath.

' _I apologize, for not even I know what that creature was. I have failed you as the support member of your team.'_

"What the hell do you mean you don't know what that thing was!? Some denizen you are! God, way to be useless!" Tatsuya yelled.

Yu turned his attention towards Tatsuya's sudden outburst. "She already said she was sorry. Back off or else," he threatened.

"Or else what, huh!? What are YOU going to do to ME!?" Tatsuya yelled at Yu, pointing an angry finger at him. His other hand was tightly gripping the hilt of his sword.

Yu remained silent, holding onto his sword tightly, his grip intensifying with each passing second. Naoya stepped in front of Yu and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now isn't the time for fighting. Right now, we have work to do and you two going at it like dogs will not get the job done." Naoya said, his grip on Yu's shoulder increasing as Yu refused to stand down.

"Though I'm not pleased to admit it, Naoya's right." Minato said, stepping in front of Tatsuya. "Fighting each other will get us nowhere right now, so both of you guys need to calm down and get your priorities straight. Once we deal with what we came here for, I'll be more than pleased to take either of you on, but right now you need to get your panties out of the twist they're in," he finished, his lips were stuck in a thin line and his glare was condescending. In front of him, Tatsuya was gritting his teeth and breathing heavily. He stood up straight and took a deep breath in through his nose, then breathed out through his mouth.

"You're right. I apologize for what I said Elizabeth," Tatsuya said, loosening his grip on his sword.

' _You need not fret, as they say: 'no harm done','_ Elizabeth assured him.

Yu stepped back and swiped the air in front of him, putting his sword in his sheath. He rubbed his temples and Naoya gave his shoulder another pat. "I don't know too much about you, but I do know you're not one to get so riled up that easily," Naoya whispered to Yu. "What was that just now?"

Yu frowned and turned his attention towards the ground. "I don't know, I just… I didn't think what Tatsuya said was right. Elizabeth is working her hardest and didn't deserve to be spoken down to like that."

"Trust me, I agree with you but…" Naoya trailed off, looking over his shoulder. Minato and Tatsuya were already making their way down the hall. He turned back to Yu with a questioning look. "You'd think it would've been Minato who'd go for Tatsuya's head after that. I dunno, but he seems to have some history with Elizabeth."

"Yeah… I've noticed it too. Maybe he'll tell us if we ask him?" He asked.

"I wouldn't count on it," a voice said from besides Naoya. They both turned towards the source and saw Pharos smiling up at them.

"When did…" Naoya started.

"Minato holds her in high regards, higher than he does most other people. That will be information he'll only share with the worthy," Pharos said, smiling innocently all the while. When he finished speaking, he turned and walked back to Minato. Minato looked down and smiled at Pharos who returned the gesture before he vanished in his usual wisp of smoke, Minato's shadow returning beneath him. Minato looked back towards Yu and Naoya, his smile quickly vanishing and being replaced by a condescending frown.

"Elizabeth, what do you feel on this floor?" Minato asked, reaching another intersection and exploring his options.

' _This is rather peculiar. I sense nothing on this floor,'_ Elizabeth informed.

"Sooo, we've got nothing to worry about then?" Naoya asked, scratching the back of his head.

"That's what it seems like," Yu said, walking towards Minato. "Let's consider it… like a break or something." Besides him, Minato remained vigilant, grabbing his sword again.

"No… I… don't remember, but there was always something wrong when this happened back in Tartarus," he said, rubbing his temples.

"Well this isn't your precious Tartarus," Tatsuya said, walking ahead of the group. "Now let's get a move on, the sooner we reach the fragment, the better." At that, the team trudged onward with Minato trailing behind, moving slowly but maintaining a healthy distance behind the rest.

* * *

The halls were eerily quiet without anything trying to jump out of the shadows and kill them, but that didn't stop the team from remaining alert. They had been on the floor for quite a while now, turning down every hallway, avoiding every chest that beckoned to them and yet they still had not found the stairs.

"Y'know, maybe Minato was right about something being wrong here," Naoya mused. "I get the feeling that we're not alone on this floor."

Besides him, Yu put his hand on his shoulder in assurance. "Relax, Elizabeth herself said she couldn't sense anything. It's just smooth sailing to the next floor. Although, we've been on this one for a while, I'd like to reach the stairs soon."

' _Good heavens!'_ Elizabeth shouted abruptly, shocking the team.

"What? What's going on!?" Yu asked, stopping in his tracks.

' _I strongly recommend you find your way out of that floor. I sense Death in your vicinity.'_

Everybody turned towards Minato with questioning glares. "You know that if it was me, she would have pointed it out long ago, right?" When everybody remained silent, he massaged his temples in irritation. "Is there no end to your stupidity?" Minato mumbled.

' _No, what I sense is the Reaper.'_

"Reaper? Can somebody explain?" Naoya asked.

' _The Reaper is an adversary whose power currently far exceeds your own. Taking it on now would be a foolish decision.'_

"Last time I fought the Reaper was because somebody asked me to," Minato mused. Elizabeth giggled, causing Minato to smile to himself. "It was a challenging, but amazing duel, despite my team being there. Elizabeth's right, going against it now would get us killed."

"You say that now, but I bet if it found us, you'd be the first to try and punch it," Naoya said.

"That doesn't matter, we need to hurry the he-" Tatsuya started, but was interrupted by the sounds of rattling chains echoing through the halls.

"Shit, how do we know which way it's coming from?" Naoya asked, cocking his SMG. "Elizabeth?"

' _I cannot discern as to where specifically it is currently residing. It is cloaking its power, keeping me from detecting it.'_

"So by the time you find it, it'll already be too late," Yu said, straightening his stance.

"It won't be if we start moving!" Tatsuya yelled. At that, he turned down the hall they were in and ran. The others exchanged glances and then followed Tatsuya's pace.

"Hey, Minato?" Yu asked.

"What?" Minato responded, sounding as if he didn't want to answer Yu's incoming question.

"Being the catalyst of Death and all, wouldn't you be able to have the ability to pinpoint the location of… y'know… Death!?"

Minato groaned inwardly. "It doesn't quite work that way. The Reaper is just a small fraction of Death and the Death that's sealed within me is but another. What's in me is the messenger of the Fall, the one who will bring down Nyx to start the end of the world… yadda, yadda. If it was actually Nyx inside of me, then I might be able to smell the Reaper coming."

The sounds of rattling chains increased drastically, the noise of something being periodically crushed could be heard along with the chains.

' _I have pinpointed its exact location!'_ Elizabeth triumphantly shouted.

"You sound a bit too happy there Elizabeth," Naoya said, trailing behind Tatsuya but in front of Yu and Minato.

"Does it matter?" Tatsuya asked. "Elizabeth, some information NOW would be nice!" The group had been running down through the halls for quite some time, about to come up on another bend.

' _The location of the Reaper is…'_ Elizabeth started.

The group turned down the bend and halted all movement.

Before them hovered a creature whose face was hidden by a bloodied burlap sack, covering all but one, ominous, red eye. It wore a tattered black trench coat that was covered with chains in the pattern of a cross along its chest. In its gloved hands were two revolvers, each the size of one human being. Each time it swayed in the air, the chains it wore rattled enticingly. It was large, and its very presence struck fear into the group.

' _Right in front of you!'_

"… Ah… shit," Naoya cursed under his breath.

"This won't end well," Yu mumbled, sword at the ready.

"Reaper… I see you're still as horrific as I recall," Minato mocked.

The Reaper replied with a threatening growl. It tightened its grip on both revolvers.

"Shut up! Do you have a death wish?" Tatsuya asked Minato. Easily irritated at Minato's obviously growing excitement.

"I bet you're just itching to blow me to bits with those pea shooters of yours," Minato continued. He tilted his head and looked behind the Reaper. The hall they were in was a long one, but there was a three-way intersection farther down. "Look, I'm willing to bet the stairs leading to the next floor is just ahead. But as you can see, we can't just waltz on by like buffoons, so I have a plan," he whispered.

Tatsuya grumbled something incoherent under his breath. "This better be good, or else I'll be more than happy to leave you here to die."

"Ooh, I'm trembling in my shoes," Minato sarcastically said. "Anyways, at this point, a fight is inevitable. I'll remain back and distract it the best I can, but it obviously won't be easy. When I give the signal, you guys will make a break for the stairs. Whatever you do, don't stop for a second to make sure I'm alright, finding the stairs is your top priority."

"What the hell kind of plan is that?" Naoya almost shouted. I don't get your fetish for fighting, but don't you think that's going a bit too far?"

"Are you doubting me?" Minato almost sounded insulted. "I can handle myself just fine, you need to worry about yourself."

"Look Minato, I'm not too fond of you and you're not too fond of me, right? But if I were in your boots, I wouldn't be throwing my life away right after I got it back," Naoya argued.

"Well then it's a good thing I don't plan on throwing my life away, isn't it?"

"Naoya, I don't think Minato's going to change his mind, no matter how hard we try to argue. Besides, he's not going to work alone." Yu spoke up.

"He's not?"

"I'm not?"

"No, you're not. Because, I'm going to help you," Yu told Minato. "I don't care how good you are at fighting; you're going to die going against this thing alone. You're going to need help just to survive and that's why I'm staying."

"I don't think splitting up is even remotely a good idea," Naoya mumbled.

"It's a plan then," Tatsuya said. "You two will keep the Reaper busy while Naoya and I break for the next floor. When you get the chance, you'll escape the battle and meet us there."

"Right. If things get too bad…" Yu started, reaching in the bag for the pouch of traesto gems. "We'll warp out of here." He finished, tossing the bag to Tatsuya, who caught it easily.

"This 'plan' has got to be the most foolish... Ugh… I guess there's no fighting it," Naoya said.

"Good." Minato said, crushing a tarot card and activating Sukukaja. "Now, then…" he muttered.

Everybody tensed.

"ENTERTAIN ME!" Minato yelled. He grabbed his sword and charged at the Reaper at breakneck speeds, smiling like a maniac all the while. The Reaper let out a bestial roar and aimed its revolvers at Minato, firing wildly and relentlessly. At his increased speed, Minato managed to dodge each bullet that flew his way. Multiple shots collided with the walls and slammed into the ground around him. Debris picking up around the area, creating a dust cloud in front of the Reaper.

Minato jumped into the dust cloud, using it to camouflage his offense. The Reaper shot wildly into the dust cloud, not seeing what it was hitting. Out of the cloud came Orpheus with his lyre raised over his head. He flew out of the dust cloud and charged straight for the Reaper, sending down the lyre, aiming it for the Reaper's head. The Reaper reacted quickly, raising its revolvers and perfectly guarding the attack. From behind Orpheus, Minato appeared, sword in hand, smiling wildly. He landed on Orpheus' back and used him as an extra step and leaping off of him.

The Reaper jerked its head upwards and saw Minato adjusting himself for a nose dive. It spun quickly, knocking Orpheus off balance and sending its revolvers straight into Orpheus' side. Orpheus shattered on contact, but the Reaper continued to move. Minato noticed the Reaper's impending attack and adjusted himself midair, preparing to guard to the best of his ability. The revolvers slammed into Minato's guard, but the force from the Reaper's sheer strength proved too much. Minato was flung straight into a nearby wall, creating a large crater as he smashed into the wall. The Reaper turned to Minato's direction and roared at him.

"Kuh—Good! You're still as painfully strong as I remember!" Minato yelled. He slid down the wall and landed on his feet. He looked at the team, then back at the Reaper. "Come on then! Let's make this good!" He crushed another tarot card and both of his gauntlets ignited; he got into a fighting stance and prepared himself.

"You guys get going!" Yu yelled while summoning Izanagi. Both Yu and Izanagi pointed their blades straight in the air, thunder clouds forming above them. Bolts of lightning struck their blades, charging them with vicious electricity. Yu and Izanagi charged at the Reaper simultaneously, moving side-by-side. The Reaper aimed its revolvers at them and fired off multiple shots at them only for Izanagi to repel each of the bullets with his blade. Yu took the opportunity to aim a jumping stab at the Reaper's stomach only for the Reaper to quickly move to the side, the attack missing by a wide margin. Yu landed in a roll and turned around quickly, swiping the air with his sword and releasing a shot of lightning at the Reaper. The projectile hit its target, but the Reaper took it as if it was nothing. Izanagi got his blade and swiped horizontally at the Reaper's head. It anticipated the strike and moved out of the way, releasing a multitude of chains from its body to incapacitate Izanagi.

Tatsuya and Naoya wasted no more time making their move. They ran as fast as they could, running past the fight and making their way down the hall, not bothering to look back. The Reaper saw them fleeing and took aim at them with its revolvers. It prepared to fire, but Minato interrupted by appearing in its line of sight.

"Pay attention!" He yelled, throwing two punches at its face with his ignited fists. The punches hit flawlessly, but it only succeeded in irritating the Reaper further. The chains that were currently encompassing Izanagi compressed and crushed him, causing Yu some nasty head pains. The Reaper then launched the chains at Minato, who twirled in the air to avoid them and then caught some with his hands. The Reaper lifted its revolvers and slammed them down onto Minato, who let go of the chains and put his hands on the guns descending on him at terrifying speeds. The force yet again proved too much as Minato was sent plummeting into the floor. He adjusted himself and managed to land on his feet, hopping back to get next to Yu.

More chains shot out from under the Reaper's trench coat and shot straight for the duo, who wasted no time in avoiding them. Yu managed to avoid several chains aimed for him by skidding to a halt and merely jumping over them. He landed and grabbed one chain that slammed into the ground with his right hand and crushed a tarot card with his left. Izanagi reappeared behind Yu and created a small thundercloud above them, shooting out a bolt of lightning to strike the metal chain. Yu jumped on the electrified chain and ran straight for the Reaper, with Izanagi flying behind him. Izanagi flew past Yu and impaled the Reaper in the face with his spear, inciting a large howl of pain from the Reaper as blood spurted out from the gash Izanagi created. It brought its left revolver up and tried to shoot Izanagi, but the persona vanished before the bullet could pierce it. The chain that Yu was on suddenly began to retract back into the Reaper's coat, forcing Yu to react quickly or else he would lose his balance. He jumped off, placing both hands on his sword and angling his body in the air until he was nearly parallel to the floor. He twirled and then aimed his sword at the Reaper's chest, coming down with increased speed. The Reaper placed both of its revolvers in front of its chest and defended the attack.

"Now's your chance!" Yu yelled, putting his legs on the revolvers and pushing off. Behind the Reaper, Orpheus appeared and smashed his lyre in the back of the Reaper's head with all of its might. The Reaper howled again and turned around, ducking to avoid an aerial slash from Minato.

Minato landed besides Yu once more and groaned in irritation. "Dammit, I missed," he muttered. "Granted, that probably wouldn't have done much anyways." The Reaper turned back at the duo and twirled its revolvers, released an ear-piercing screech from behind its bloodied, tattered bag.

"You have to admit, it was a good attempt," Yu told Minato, who merely shrugged his shoulders. "Jack Frost! Omoikane!" Yu yelled out, summoning both Personas simultaneously. "This… is going to be a long fight," he mused.

Farther down the hall…

"We're not really going to leave them behind right?" Naoya asked as he and Tatsuya made their way down the hall.

"Of course not, we're all getting off of this floor together," Tatsuya responded.

"Good. Y'know, something tells me that you're not really the jaded prick we think you are," Naoya mused.

"Shut up."

Tatsuya and Naoya had made it to the intersection, exploring their options of movement. All three halls seemed to extend further, neither of them having the stairs. "Split up," Naoya said, taking the eastern hall while Tatsuya took the western. Tatsuya sprinted down the hall, wondering just how Yu managed to move so easily with how much the bag was weighing him down. He saw that farther down the hall was a split and he so desperately hoped that one of those halls were the stairs. He had reached the split and looked both ways, only to see dead ends in both directions. He angrily punched the wall in front of him, hoping Naoya was having better luck.

Meanwhile, Naoya had been running down the hall with fervor equal to Tatsuya's, the situation calling for an intense amount of speed. At the end of the hallway was but one bend, and Naoya crossed his fingers, hoping that the stairs were at the end of that hall. He slid to a stop when he reached it and looked, only to groan inwardly at the sight of an empty opening. At its center, was a silver chest, radiating a beautiful light that beckoned Naoya to it. He scratched his chin in thought. _'Maybe we just got unlucky with that last one,'_ he pondered, slowly making his way towards the chest. He stood right in front of it, eyeing it like a curious child in a museum. He was about to reach for it when he heard shots ring out and explosions going off from where Yu and Minato were fighting the Reaper. Naoya shook his head, turned around and made his way back down the hallway, hoping Tatsuya was having better luck.

The Reaper roared as it shot the air above it randomly, causing Minato and Yu to exchange questioning glances. They heard a loud whooshing sound and looked at the ground below them, shocked to see a powerful wind pick up. The both jumped in opposite directions, trying not to be caught in the powerful vortex. They covered their faces when the incredibly large tornado compressed and exploded, almost blowing them both back a couple of feet.

"It's using spells now!" Yu called out.

"Thanks Captain Obvious, got any more important news you'd like to share?" Minato sarcastically responded. The Reaper shot out more chains, but Minato and Yu managed to dodge each of them. The chains twisted in the air and followed Yu and Minato as they moved around the hall in an attempt to avoid the chains. Yu dashed towards the Reaper from the front and Minato charged at it from behind, swords at the ready. They jumped at the same time, both of them aiming for the Reaper's neck. They were about to deliver the strike when they were grabbed by a multitude of chains, incapacitating them almost instantly.

"Dammit!" Yu cursed aloud, flailing about as hard as he could. He only succeeded in wearing himself out. "I can't reach the pouch of Traesto gems, what do we do?"

"Well, I guess we're dead. It was not an honor working with you guys," Minato blatantly said. The Reaper lifted its revolvers and pointed them at Yu and Minato's head, fingers at the triggers. It let out a throaty growl, the bloody bag shaking each time it turned its head.

"Vulcanus!" From down the hallway, the God of fire propelled himself at the Reaper and threw a powerful, flame-filled punch at its head. The aim was true and the Reaper was launched backwards, the chains encompassing Yu and Minato loosening enough to set them free. They landed on their feet and looked in the direction of their savior.

"I thought I told you to get to the next floor," Minato said. Naoya and Tatsuya stepped forward, their eyes not leaving the Reaper, who was currently making its way back to the group.

"Sorry, but we're not good with orders. Not to mention, Tatsuya would've died of heartache of something were to happen to you guys," Naoya joked.

"If that thing doesn't kill you, you can rest assured knowing I will," Tatsuya replied.

"I take it this means you found the stairs," Yu said.

Tatsuya and Naoya exchanged knowing glances before replying at the same time. "Sure." The Reaper had returned and shot the air above it once more, generating a condensed ball of orange light.

"And this attack is?" Naoya asked.

' _It is preparing Vorpal Blade. You will, as they say: be sliced and diced, should you get hit,'_ Elizabeth said.

"Elizabeth, have you been practicing while I was away?" Minato asked.

"I'm pretty sure we've got bigger things to worry about," Yu said. The Reaper aimed its revolver at the orange light and fired. The light exploded into an infinite amount of beams of lights. The lights scattered and danced about the hall, bouncing off of the walls and floor in random patterns. Everybody jumped in different directions, avoiding the beams as they shot out in random angles.

"I'm getting too old for this. I'm retiring when all is said and done," Naoya yelled, bobbing and weaving around the hall. Ducking right in time to avoid being decapitated, a few strands of hair being cut off.

"Quit complaining!" Tatsuya responded, opting to deflect the beams with his blade rather than to run around like a chicken with its head cut off. He felt a beam graze his left calf and winced at the burning sensation of a wound opening.

"This reminds me of an old game Junpei and I once played. Everybody failed at it in the movie adaptation though. It gave me quite the laugh," Minato mused as he twirled in the air. He slashed at the beams as he moved through the air, deflecting them in random directions.

' _Maybe we need to actually think our plans through next time,'_ Yu thought, narrowly avoiding numerous beams coming straight for him by jumping off of a nearby wall. He raised his sword and deflected a couple of more before the beams of light all vanished at the same time, giving the team a small break to catch their breaths.

The Reaper got its revolver and shot the air one more time, letting out an ear piercing roar. Another light formed in front of it, however, unlike last time, it was purple in color and larger than before. The atmosphere around them thickened and the pressure in the hallway seemed to increase tenfold.

"Aw hell, is that…"

' _Megidolaon. If you are caught within the attack's vicinity… well, I need not say more,'_ Elizabeth said.

"Then I'll take that as our cue to get out of here," Tatsuya said. At that moment, the group quickly turned tail and ran, all of them equally knowledgeable on the destructive power on the attack. Behind them, the ball of purple energy descended, accompanied by a 'whizzing' noise all the while. It hit the ground and then compressed, before exploding violently, causing the entire floor to rumble viciously.

"Damn! Which hallway was the stairs in!?" Yu desperately asked, well aware of the explosion getting ever closer to them.

"The northern hall… I hope," Naoya said.

"What the hell do you mean you hope!?" Yu yelled at him.

"Don't worry about it!" Tatsuya exclaimed, running ahead of the group as the explosion continued to ravage the floor, nearing the group at an alarmingly fast rate.

Behind them, the Reaper shot out from the explosion with its revolvers aimed right at the group. It roared once more and let out shot after shot, taking off chunks of wall and causing the group to avoid the bullets as they ran down the hall. The group had reached a bend and, not bothering to slow down for a cleaner turn, veered right hoping that they had finally reached the stairs. The explosion from the Megidolaon had caught up to them and blasted them forward, launching them through the room and causing them to tumble down the stairs. Luckily, the Traesto gems in Yu's pocket somehow kept from shattering from the fall.

They had once again landed in a pile at the bottom, disorientated and exhausted. When they looked up, they saw the Reaper floating at the top of the stairs, swaying side to side in the air. It gazed at them with its one ominous red eye, not attempting to attack the barrier. Slowly, it turned around and left their field of sight, accompanied by the sound of rattling chains. Everybody got back on their feet and adjusted themselves.

"See? Told you it was down the northern hall," Naoya said to Yu, who just groaned in response.

"A shame it had to end so early. That duel was rather enjoyable," Minato mused.

"Tch, speak for yourself. I don't plan on going through that again," Yu said to Minato.

"Look guys, we just survived our first encounter with the Reaper. You'd think we'd be celebrating the fact that we're not dead," Naoya said in an attempt to calm them down.

"Only two floors and I'm already sick of this place. Let's get this over with," Tatsuya said, taking the bag off and giving it back to Yu.

"Actually, it'd be best if we all took a quick break here and healed up," Naoya said.

"Hmm, I guess there's nothing wrong with that," Yu said, rummaging through the bag for items. He pulled out some medicine and eggs, tossing them towards the others.

"So, how many floors do you guys think there are?" Minato asked as he juggled his egg and the bottle of medicine he had.

"Beats me. But I do know that things are only going to get harder from here on out," Naoya replied. Cracking open his egg and downing the yolk, gagging in disgust afterwards.

Tatsuya finished drinking his bottle of medicine and wincing at the sensation of his wounds close when he spoke. "Then that just means we'll have to show no mercy from here on out." He cracked his egg and swallowed the yolk, not particularly disliking the feel of it slide down his throat.

"Agreed. As expected, this hasn't been easy so far; we need to go into each fight with a strategy," Yu said. "On another note, if we encounter another shuffle time, I'd think it'd be best if we each go for extra Personas."

"Of course, with more Personas we can cover more weaknesses and resistances. It's basic strategy," Minato said, tossing aside his empty medicine bottle and discarding the cracked eggshell on the floor.

After everybody finished using their recovery items and discussing their current situation within the underground maze, they all collected their weapons and opened the door. They walked through without a second thought, not bothering to look back.

* * *

 **Now I return to the copious amounts of college work I've been putting off.**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Difficulty Spike Part. II**

 **Extraneous: *Rises from beneath the ground in Zombie-like fashion before bursting out* I LIIIIIIIIIVE! Oh shit, now's my chance for a reference.**

 ***Clears throat as camera zooms in***

' **Kept ya waitin', huh?' *Fists pumps* Nailed it.**

 **But in all seriousness guys and girls, my apologies for the long wait. I uhh… I um… yeah. But here's the long awaited update.**

 **\- Reviews**

 **Mocassiotorres27: Good that you think that. Everything is going according to plan *cue diabolical laughter***

 **Rittie: Glad that you did. Aren't we all little sadists on the inside when you think about it? To ease your confusion, yes I did mean Traesto as opposed to Trafuri. I can see why you're confused since Traesto can't be used during a fight. It's just that I couldn't really think of a good way to describe Trafuri properly so I went with Traesto. But after a bit of thinking recently, I feel as if I've got something for Trafuri.**

 **Vangran: Aw shucks, your making me blush. I don't think anybody's first encounter with the Reaper ended on a good note. I still remember Fuuka yelling that Death was approaching over the sounds of rusty chains rattling. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies, hahaha.**

 **Louis Cyfer: As much as I disdain spoiling things, there's actually an explanation for that within this chapter. If it doesn't sate your curiosity, fret not for there will be more discussion on the matter between the team later on down the line.**

 **Let the chapter commence!**

* * *

The remnants of a Garu faded away as the last demon currently barring their path melted into a sick puddle on the floor; in front of it, Naoya let out a sigh as he stretched in relief. Besides him, Minato wiped the ichor from off of his sword.

"Yet another foe unworthy of my might," Naoya joked, turning to Minato to give him a thumbs up. Minato simply rolled his eyes and gave him a small grin in acknowledgement.

"How is it going on your end?" Minato spoke aloud to presumably nobody. A few seconds passed before they heard a reply in their head.

"We've located the stairs. Backtrack towards the beginning of this floor and then go down the hallway we chose; finding us should be no difficult task," a voice, Tatsuya's, said.

"Rodger dodger!" Naoya barked.

When they had reached the fifth floor, Yu suggested that they should split up to cover more ground at a much faster pace. Minato disagreed, although he seemed interested at testing his skills against multiple demons on his own, he felt that sticking together was the smarter choice to go with. After some back and forth between the two, it was Naoya who decided that they should split up in groups of two. When Tatsuya had mentioned how they would be able to keep in contact, Elizabeth simply told them they could speak to each other through her (Minato and Yu helped her explain to Naoya and Tatsuya as to how that was possible).

"The items I gave you, did they come in handy?" Another voice, Yu's, asked. Before they had split up, Yu gave Naoya and Minato a decent amount of medicines and peach seeds.

"Not in the slightest," Minato said. "Nothing we've encountered gave us a run for our money; they could've at least been nice enough to drop us a shuffle time, but I guess we aren't that lucky."

"That's too bad. In the small amounts of fights we've been stuck in, we've always gotten shuffle time," Yu remarked. "We've decided to go for money, in case we need it in the future… which we most likely will."

"Especially with the system the Velvet Room goes by," Minato replied, earning a questioning 'hum' from Naoya and Tatsuya – at least, that's what it sounded like on the other end. "But let's not digress, we'll meet you there shortly." At that, Naoya begun to walk back to where they came from with Minato in tow.

"So… care to explain this system that the Velvet Room goes by?"

"Huh, don't you already know the 'give and take' system, Tatsuya?"

"I knew somebody who followed that system, and they weren't from the Velvet Room."

"So you mean to tell me that you didn't have to pay them money just to take on Personas that you already fused?"

"That sounds incredibly stupid, you'd have to be a fool to actually pay them money for something so trivial," Tatsuya flat-out stated. At that remark, Yu averted his gaze, taking a sudden interest in the stains on his shoes.

"T-they say it's to keep guests from taking advantage of the services they provide," Yu mumbled just loud enough for Tatsuya to hear, who merely grunted in response.

Finding solace in the silence that surrounded them, Yu took to merely gazing down the hallway that Minato and Naoya were going to come down eventually.

"They didn't do that when I was younger… yeesh, they must've really been pinching pennies to have you guys pay for services," Naoya chortled. "Though I remember somebody who went on 'give and take'… her name was Trish or somethin'."

Minato scoffed, "I could never get behind it. In all honesty, why would they have me pay for their help when I never asked for it in the first place."

"Never asked for their help, eh…" Naoya trailed off. Minato furrowed his brows at Naoya's tiny comment before shaking his head and choosing to ignore it for now.

"I wonder how many floors are left," Naoya said, hoping to start another conversation, feeling an awkward silence creep up on them from behind… or was it something else.

"I can only hope that there isn't much left, but you know what they say right?" Minato responded. "Hope for the best…" he started.

"Expect the worst," Naoya finished.

' _I sense one demon making its way to you from behind,'_ Elizabeth tuned in, causing Naoya and Minato to halt in their tracks.

"Should we take it seriously?" Naoya asked, cocking his gun in preparation.

' _It's fairly weak. Weak enough to not merit extensive force.'_

"Hmph, I don't waste my time on those without power," Minato said. "However, I'll gladly let you kill it… haha, poor thing probably can't stand existing as weak as it is."

Behind them, a small blonde boy with blue skin skipped up to them. He was wearing a pair of overalls over a white shirt. In his right hand was a kitchen knife that he twirled around with glee before dancing in place. When he finished, he stuck his tongue out at Naoya before laughing.

"Uh-huh, hey Minato, what do you think of this?" Naoya asked, turning to his left. "M-Minato?"

Besides him, Minato's one visible eye was widened exponentially and he was trembling in his dramatically. Minato turned to Naoya and eyed his gun, shaking his head and slowly reaching for it.

"Naoya, n-no! We can't kill it, we shouldn't! It goes beyond the grace of God!" He yelled, causing Naoya to push him away.

"The hell's your problem?" He asked. He turned his attention towards the tiny demon, suddenly realizing what was wrong with Minato. "This was you! It was that stupid dance of yours, I remember you now!" Naoya aimed his gun and attempted to pull the trigger, only to be tackled by Minato. His gun fell out of his hand and rolled towards the demon. "What the hell? I don't recall it being this bad, back in the day!"

"Naoya please, I beg of you! Don't do it!" Minato pleaded, his grey eyes were now a dark shade of purple and his breathing was abnormal. Naoya turned his gaze towards the small demon who was making his way towards them slowly, both hands gripping the knife.

"Oh fuck this!" Naoya yelled, punching Minato in the face and shoving him off. He quickly pulled out his sword and slashed at the boy, beheading him cleanly.

Minato, who saw the kill, recovered from the ailment instantly and got up. "Ugh, piece of shit…" he mumbled.

"You can say that again," Naoya replied. "Though technically, that makes us even."

"Even?"

"Yeah, I was charmed and you cured that. So me curing you just now makes us even."

"It would, had it not been me who gave you an antidote when you were poisoned," Minato said, walking past Naoya to Tatsuya and Yu's location.

"…dammit."

When they reached the stairs, Tatsuya and Yu were already waiting for them.

"Run into some trouble?" Yu asked, earning a grunt from Minato.

"You can say that," Naoya answered.

The floor began to rumble violently, nearly knocking the group off of their feet. This wasn't the first time they had experienced this. It first occurred on the third floor, shocking the group for a brief moment before it stopped suddenly. It occurred again moments later during a fight with a group of Slimes, throwing them off of their game momentarily. The rumbling increased in intensity each time it occurred, giving the group further motivation to find the fragment and get out of there.

"We've wasted enough time. Let's get going," Tatsuya ordered.

"I'm sorry, but who died and made you queen?" Minato sarcastically asked.

"Excuse me?" Tatsuya snarled.

"You heard me. Last I checked, you're not the leader of our little group, so stop acting like it."

"I'm sorry that I'm the only one with a head on his shoulders while everybody else is sitting on their hands."

"…sitting on their hands!? I'm not sure where you're getting that notion from, but I've been pretty pivotal so far in our mission," Yu interjected, not happy with Tatsuya's statement.

"Just because we're not as gloomy as you, doesn't mean we're any less serious about our situation," Naoya stepped in. "You need to have more faith in your team, Tatsuya."

"Putting faith in you three has almost gotten me killed on multiple occasions," Tatsuya countered.

"Well then, if you don't feel as if you can rely on us – which you seemingly can't – then you wouldn't mind asking Yu for a Traesto gem to get out of here and leave the rest to us," Minato offered. When Tatsuya refused to speak, Minato scoffed and rolled his eyes. "All bark and no bite."

Tatsuya had to resist every urge in his body telling him to just end Minato' right then and there. He was reaching his boiling point and that sly little comment told Tatsuya that Minato was just begging to be slaughtered, but he resisted.

He contained himself.

Naoya cleared his throat and stepped between the two. "Alright Minato, I think you've proved your point well enough," he said, then he looked at Tatsuya. "Look, we're not asking for much Tatsuya. No matter how you slice it, we're all team so we need to put at least a microscopic amount of trust within each other and… it doesn't seem like you're doing that."

Tatsuya met Naoya's gaze and held it for a short moment. Tatsuya's glare was meant to instill fear in those weaker than him, but Naoya stayed firm. Slowly, Tatsuya felt his anger beginning to quell before he breathed a sigh of contempt.

"There ya go," Naoya said. "Now that that's dealt with, come on guys, let's go." With that, Naoya was the first one down the stairs with a displeased Minato following behind, leaving Yu and Tatsuya at the top.

"Don't worry Tatsuya, we won't let you down," Yu assured, giving him a pat on the back. Tatsuya gave him a defeated stare before giving him a genuine grin. "By the way, we've all had that one friend that could kill us with looks. Your death glare, though pretty intimidating, doesn't really work on us."

"You ladies finished gossiping or are we leaving you behind so you can trade makeup?" Minato asked from below; next to him, Naoya tried his hardest to stifle a laugh at the joke, but failed miserably.

Yu blushed at Minato's witticism. Giving Tatsuya a sidelong look, he grinned before making his way down the stairs.

' _Relying on others, eh?'_ Tatsuya thought as he pulled out his lighter and flicked it. _'Right.'_

* * *

"…So am I the only one who notices something different about this floor?" Naoya asked rhetorically.

After descending the stairs and going to the door leading to the sixth floor, the team was shocked to see that instead of an intricate maze of confusion, there was instead just one hall with large double doors at the end.

"Elizabeth, what's the stitch?" Yu asked.

' _The first fragment does not reside on this floor, however, I am sensing one moderately strong opponent waiting beyond the door. Prepare yourself for an unavoidable battle.'_

"Strong, hmm," Tatsuya mumbled.

"Let's not waste anytime then. We've got a fight to the death coming and I'd like to get to it as soon as possible," Minato murmured.

"Isn't that what all of our fights have been?" Yu implored.

"I think he's just trying to set the atmosphere for this one," Naoya said. "How're you guys feeling right now?"

"Yeah, if you need any healing, don't hesitate to ask for an item," Yu offered. When nobody spoke up, he shrugged his shoulders and motioned for everybody to start moving.

"Elizabeth, if you can sense any weaknesses, now would be a good time to inform us," Tatsuya suggested. His sword remained in its sheath and his gaze remained on the closed door. Elizabeth's response came almost immediately.

' _I unfortunately sense none. There is a nullification to light, a resistance to attacks with physical attributes and a weakness to darkness,'_ Elizabeth replied almost immediately.

"Good thing we've been grabbing new Personas!" Naoya gave Tatsuya a smack on the back that slightly jerked him forward.

"Right, fighting around that shouldn't be too hard," Yu said, approaching the door. "You guys ready?" Finally, everybody got their weapons ready and nodded at each other. They were prepared for whatever came at them.

Yu placed his hand on the large black and blue double doors and pushed them open. They creaked with an atmosphere of suspense, as if it was an actual being trying to instill the fear of surprise on the group. The doors finally opened to reveal a large, empty circular room with a heightened ceiling, making the room feel even bigger.

"No wonder going down the stairs felt longer than before," Minato mused.

There was a man kneeling in the center of the room, completely clad in heavy, silver armor with the only thing not being covered was his large, red wings on his back. His left hand was on the floor, but his right was clenched into a fist placed in front of his face. His mouth was moving and yet he made no noise. Next to him, a silver blade was impaled in the ground at an angle.

"Are we interrupting something," Naoya whispered. Yu shrugged his shoulders while Tatsuya and Minato remained silent.

"Amen," the warrior in the center boldly said. He stood up straight and retrieved his sword from its resting place. It wasn't long before he met the curious stares of the group with a vicious one. His wings expanded behind him and his grip on his sword tightened exponentially.

"An archangel, eh?" Minato mused. "This will be fun."

"It did not take long for the news of the murder of five angels to reach the Heavens above," the archangel said. His voice was deep and imposing, meant to instill fear into his victims. "You four have committed a sin that shall not go unpunished."

"I'm sorry, but did you know those five angels back then? If anybody was sinning, it was them! Hell, you'd think they'd make everybody where chastity belts where you guys are from cause I'm positive I was gonna be touched inappropriately!" The archangel scoffed at Naoya's tone, crouching into a fighting stance.

"Nevertheless, should you four choose to repent, then death shall come quickly and painlessly for you lot."

"And if we choose free will?" Tatsuya asked. His answer came in a low growl. "Yeah, I thought as much."

"Shall you choose to repent to the Lord?"

"Nah, I'm just not in the mood for it right now," Minato spoke in a mock tone. He put a hand to his chin in thought. "Although if your God decides repenting to me…" he turned his gaze to the ceiling. "Then I might just consider going home."

It was at that moment that the archangel's rage got the best of him. "BLASPHEMY!" With sword in hand, he flew straight for them at breakneck speeds.

Everybody managed to dodge in the nick of time by rolling to either side. They all gave Minato an annoyed glare to which he just shrugged off carelessly.

"Like Elizabeth said, this fight was unavoidable. I just decided to speed things up," he twirled his sword and crushed a card. "Tell me… do you bleed?" Above him formed a woman with bronze skin and two lances riding atop a red steed. She wore lightweight armor with a white cape attached to it. Her hair was long and golden, flowing down to the nape of her back and yet her face was covered with a masquerade. "Cut him to ribbons!" He barked out, the Valkyrie above him let out a battle cry before charging at the archangel.

"You dare challenge me? Your naivety knows no bounds child!" The archangel yelled before meeting Valkyrie halfway. Sword met lance in a power struggle between the two warriors. For a moment it seemed he had the upper hand, when suddenly Naoya appeared in a slide from beneath Valkyrie, gun aimed directly at him. "Tch!" He quickly dodged to the side and flew back, narrowly dodging Naoya's gunfire. He raised his right arm in the air and balled his hand into a fist. "You're suffering shall be endless!" Suddenly, storm clouds formed over the group and small bolts of lightning rained down on them.

Yu was quick to react and raised his sword above his head, the lightning crashing onto the blade and charging it quickly. "Thanks for the jumpstart!" He charged for the archangel and summoned and made to summon a new Persona. "Obariyon!" When he crushed his card, a small orange creature with hair covering the top half of its face appeared on Yu's back. "Sonic Punch!" At Yu's command, Obariyon – using Yu for a boost – sprung for the archangel and charged his left fist with blue energy. He reached his target in record speed, putting all of his power into his punch and throwing a strong strike. The archangel reacted instantly and guarded the blow with his sword; the sound of the blocked attack reverberating all across the room. Behind Obariyon, Yu had launched into the air, ready to deliver a killing slash to the archangel.

"How vacuous," the archangel remarked bluntly. He quickly spun to the right and slashed Obariyon in half before slashing Yu's sword, shattering it and grabbing Yu by the throat with his free hand. The archangel's grip around Yu's neck tightened, causing him to begin to struggle for air. "I shall use you to set an example," the archangel warned before aiming his sword for Yu's face. Yu quickly cracked a card and summoned a new Persona. Behind Yu appeared a knight in dark grey armor riding atop a red horse with a dark, violet mane. In his right hand, he held a large golden trident.

"M-mudo!" Yu hacked out, the archangel's grip on his throat tightening even further. His vision began to fade, if something didn't happen soon… well, he didn't want to think about it. Behind him, Berith raised his trident and let out a loud battle cry, his horse whinnying and reeling back. The archangel heard the ominous hum of magic and in front of him appeared an ebony colored circle with a Japanese symbol in the center. He immediately recognized it as a Mudo spell and flew out of the way, narrowly avoiding it as it went off.

"Boy, know that your torment shall be relentless!" The archangel raised his hand and summoned a thundercloud above the stationary Berith, a bolt of lightning descending and destroying him in an instant. Yu coughed up a small amount of blood onto the archangel's wrist.

At that moment, the archangel was slammed into, causing Yu to fall out of his grip and land safely on the ground. As he was keeled over catching his breath, Tatsuya walked up beside him. "Now Titan, Skull Cracker!" He commanded. The golden armor clad warrior grabbed the archangel by the collar and yanked him forwards, delivering a massive head-butt that could be felt through his helmet. The archangel reeled back in pain and slashed at the air in front of him wildly, however, Titan was withdrawn by Tatsuya the moment the head-butt made contact. "Naoya!"

"Already on it!" Naoya responded, riding on the behind somebody on the back of an ebony horse. Said somebody was completely clad in vermillion armor, with white fur flowing from his shoulders and two horns jutting from his helmet. In his right arm was a large silver spear that was currently glowing purple on the tip. Naoya politely took the spear for himself and smiled at the man. "Thanks for that, Eligor!" He blurted out before standing up straight on the speeding horse. Naoya aimed the spear at the archangel and launched it as hard as he could, the spear whizzing through the air straight for its target. The archangel had just recovered from the attack when he noticed the poisoned spear headed directly for him. Thinking quickly, he caught it and launched it straight back at its sender. "Shit!" Naoya hopped off of the horse to avoid the attack, but unfortunately, Eligor was impaled by the poisoned spear, causing him to shatter into nothing and racking Naoya with an unpleasant headache.

"You might want to work on your pass for next time!" Minato joked, dashing past Naoya. He held his sword by his side as he ran for the archangel. "I'm going to take my time with you!"

The archangel snorted at Minato's threat. "Your scent disgusts me, boy. The scent of death permeates the room and you are the source," he said. He was suddenly encompassed in green light and flew straight for Minato. His increased speed came as an initial shock to Minato, but he realized where it came from. The archangel readied his blade and tried to decapitate Minato. Maintaining his momentum, Minato dropped to his knees and leaned back as far as he could to avoid the slash. The sword was dangerously close to his face, so close in fact, that he was able to see his reflection in the steel.

"Woo! You almost got me there!" Minato remarked. "In fact, I think you managed to cut a strand of my hair off… not my initial idea for a haircut, but we'll work something out."

"I've had enough of your shared idiocy!" The archangel yelled. "Let you bask in the light of the Lord and learn the error of your ways!" He sheathed his sword and raised both hands in the air, closing his eyes, generating a bright ball of pure light. Everybody huddled together at the sight of a possible new attack.

Minato wolf whistled. "This is a new one."

"Look alive everybody," Naoya warned.

The archangel clasped his hands together, compressing the ball of light for a brief moment. "Lend to me your omniscient eyes, my Lord, so that I may smite… MY ENEMIES!" He screamed, spreading his arms out wide and revealing his now completely glazed over eyes. The ball of light exploded and he jerked his head towards the group and scowled. Below them, the ground lit up rapidly and they all realized what he had just cast.

"Move!" Tatsuya yelled, and they all separated just as the Hama spell exploded beneath their feet. The archangel jerked his head to Minato, then Yu and Tatsuya, then finally Naoya in rapid succession. Beneath them, more Hama spells were created and they were all forced to move to a different spot before they were killed.

"Anzu!" Minato yelled while avoiding multiple Hama spells. Above him, a creature with the body of a blue eagle and the head of a lion with a red mane appeared. Instantly, Minato felt the effects of Sukukaja on his body. "With Death within me, I'd rather not be caught by these," he murmured. He then switched to Ari Mitama and cast Sukukaja on the others.

"I don't think any of us are up for getting hit by these!" Naoya yelled, bounding around in a random pattern, narrowly avoiding a Hama with each step he took.

"We have to attack the source! Tatsuya, with me!" Yu barked out.

"Right!" Tatsuya replied. They were at opposite sides of the archangel with their weapons already drawn. Using their increased speed, they gained enough momentum and jumped at him.

The archangel growled at their attempt and was encompassed by another green light. Beneath his armor, his muscles bulged profusely and he vanished right before Tatsuya and Yu made contact. They collided in the air and fell to the ground in a heap of confused and disoriented limbs. Beneath them, another Hama took form and before they could react, they were whisked away by a flash of blue and purple.

Minato and Naoya placed Yu and Tatsuya back on the ground and they each began running again, taking note of the archangel's rapid movement.

"So we're clearly not going to be able to hit him at this rate. What do we do?" Minato desperately asked.

"I have an idea! Yu, switch to Jack Frost and create three Bufulas in the center of the room!" Naoya commanded, not stopping once as he spoke in a rushed tone.

"Why!?" Yu asked.

"Just do it!" Tatsuya answered for him. Yu quickly switched to Jack Frost and summoned three large, shards of ice in the center of the room.

"Great! Now I need you to switch to Berith!" Naoya ordered once more. Yu grunted and did as he was told, still not sure where he was going with this.

"Awesome! Minato and Tatsuya, ignite your fists and follow my lead!" Naoya switched to Eligor and set his fists on fire, skidding to a quick halt and then dashing for one Bufula. He slid to a stop and placed his hands on the icicle, thick steam automatically forming around him.

"So that's your plan, eh? Not bad, I suppose," Minato mused, before doing what Naoya told him. Tatsuya mimicked their actions, practically slamming his hands on his icicle. Dense steam followed proceeded to cover the entirety of the room, camouflaging the group completely from the archangel.

He ceased his movements and returned to his normal state in the air, huffing heavily from his technique. It had taken its toll and he was becoming exhausted. "These children are all foolhardy, and yet, I am the one who nears death's door first. Impossible." He gritted his teeth in frustration. How could he have been outlasted by these… these sinners? It was unheard of! "Impossible!" He yelled, drawing his sword and chucked it into the thick cloud of steam. He heard the clang of metal impaling the ground before all went silent once more.

Suddenly, a Mudo spell formed right in front of him. He quickly flapped his wings and descended into the thick steam. Squinting his eyes, he looked from left to right to find the group when from out of nowhere, his sword was propelled at him from behind. Not seeing it coming, he howled in pain when it tore through his armor and sliced his side. He growled in sheer irritation at the blood pouring from the wound and flapped his large wings rapidly, dispelling the steam from the room in nearly in instant.

"Show yourselves! Cowards!" He called out in pure rage. His breathing was loud and uneven, until the sound of glass shattering crossed his ears and he turned to the source. Leaning against the entrance of the room were Tatsuya and Yu, both with their arms crossed and smug facial expressions. Yu waved at him while Tatsuya remained silent. The archangel made to dash for them when he heard a whistle from his left side.

"Y'know with a sword this cool, it's a shame you had to lose this fight," Naoya mumbled, the archangel's sword being twirled around in his hand like it was a child's plaything.

"Unhand my sword, cretin."

Naoya gave him a warm smile. "No thanks… Hey, Minato! What's the weather forecast for today?" He called out. The archangel spun around in the air and saw Minato sitting on the ground lazily, brushing some dust off of his white shirt.

"You're going to need an umbrella…" he started. He slowly stood up straight and brushed off his black slacks. "… Because it's about to rain blood." At that moment, all four guests raised their right hand and snapped their fingers at the same time. The archangel furrowed his eyebrows at their actions, only to jerk his head upwards at the sound of sudden movement.

Above him, every Persona used by the group so far hovered in the air and then moved at blinding speed. Slamming into the archangel, causing him to crash hard into the ground. They descended on him quickly and brutally, either stabbing or pounding him with no remorse. For a moment, the archangel reached out in pleading, only for his hand to be sliced off by Izanagi, his screams piercing the air.

Tatsuya watched on with a neutral expression while Yu continually glanced in different directions. Naoya was currently inspecting his nails and fixing his hair while Minato had a maniacal smile plastered on his face, basking in the brutality. Finally, the screams of the archangel died down and the multiple Personas stepped back before vanishing. The mangled remains of the archangel dissolved into black ichor and the group came together in the center.

"Plan well executed guys," Naoya complimented, giving everybody a heartwarming smile.

"He wasn't too tough. Things got a little aggravating near the end, but still not that bad," Minato mused.

"Something tells me we're nearing the end of this maze," Tatsuya said. Everybody nodded in agreement and let out a pleased sigh at the thought of almost being done with their mission.

"Yu," Minato called to him, pulling his sword's sheath-strap from over his shoulder and holding it in his hand. He threw it at him. "Catch."

"Huh? Whoa!" Yu instinctively reached out and grabbed it, examining it with mild curiosity before giving Minato a questioning glance.

"You can use it until the next shuffle time. I'll be taking it back then," he informed. Yu gave him a thumbs up in thanks before hoisting it over his shoulder as opposed to how he normally held his weapon, easily carrying both the sword and the bag of items.

"There's nothing here for us, so let's get going guys," Yu said. At that, the group exited the room and entered another empty hallway. The hall rumbled violently again, this time, actually knocking the group off of their feet. They recovered quickly, and quickened their pace exponentially.

* * *

Four cards descended before the group, one with a sword, another with a cup, and two with yen on their faces. They had just defeated a trio of angels (who were less seductive than the group they had faced before) in quick and clean fashion. Everybody agreed that new weapons would be the best choice and kept their eyes on the cards and they flipped and shuffled. When they stopped, it was Tatsuya who walked up to the card he felt was the correct one. He turned his head to the others for their approval and tapped the card when everybody nodded. It turned to reveal the red sword they had hoped for before vanishing.

In front of each group member appeared a new weapon fitted for just for them. For Tatsuya, two new swords with red sheaths appeared and descended slowly into his grasp. Minato received a pair of greaves that he quickly put on with glee unseen by the others. Naoya received a new submachine gun, that to his amazement after he ejected the clip, had poison tipped bullets. Finally, Yu's new blade descended into his grasp and he stared at it with awe.

"You impressed with your new toy?" Naoya asked. Yu's sword was much slimmer and slightly longer compared to the one he had received when they first started their shared journey. The sheath and strap were both a simple black as opposed to the beautiful blue and black of the other weapon.

Yu swiped the air in front of him a few times and grinned from ear to ear at how it felt. "Yeah, there was always some sort of resistance with the last sword… this one just feels… right."

' _Ah yes. You are nearing the first fragment,'_ Elizabeth spoke up. This caught everybody's attention.

"That's good news if I ever heard any," Naoya mumbled. "How close is it?" There was a long silence before he received a response.

' _It currently resides on the next and final floor. Be wary, for I sense three powerful entities guarding it.'_

"And now things get interesting," Minato mused, rubbing his hands together. "By the way, I'll be taking that back now." He opened his hand to Yu, gesturing to the sword he had let him borrow for a short time. He caught it when Yu tossed it back at him, thanking him.

' _But first, you will need to make haste and eliminate the enemies coming for you now.'_

"Does that question even need an answer?" Minato replied before slamming his gauntlets together. In that moment, a group of twelve creatures appeared from the shadows. They were small in stature and covered in yellow scales with long ears and sharp claws. Their eyes were a bright red and they were hunched over.

"Gremlins," Tatsuya warned, getting into a fighting stance. They had previously encountered a group on the third floor. Though they were rather weak, they had attacked the group in a decently sized pack meant to surround and overwhelm.

"Stand back guys."

Everybody turned to Yu when he said that confidently. They all gave him confused looks while he gave them a determined grin.

"The feeling of this new blade is almost perfect. I'm sure I can take on these things on."

Minato grinned and stepped back. "Well then, who would I be to oppose somebody so valiant in the face of danger."

"Mmm, alright I'll bite. Show us what you got Yu," Naoya said patting him on the shoulder before stepping back.

Yu gave Tatsuya a sidelong look and a small smile. "Tatsuya?"

Tatsuya gave Yu a dark stare before stepping back as well. "You want me to have faith in you… this could be a good start."

"Thank you," Yu said. He took off the item bag and tossed it to Naoya. "You're going to need to hold this for a quick second." Naoya caught it without saying anything. "If I recall, electric attacks were their weakness," Yu muttered. He wasted no time in summoning Izanagi to electrify his sword. Yu crouched down and tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, the base of the blade protruding slightly from the sheath. "For those of you uneducated in basic science, lightning flashes at one-one thousandth of a second… far faster than sound on Earth."

"Why the brainteaser? I'm sure that's something we all learned back in middle-school," Naoya mumbled.

"Style points," Minato mused. "He's gunning to impress… I'll admit, I'm interested."

"Which means by the time you hear me move it'll already be far too late," Yu continued. In that moment, the group of Gremlins all howled and dashed at Yu.

"…Don't blink."

Yu unsheathed his sword, pushed off the ground and vanished, the only thing visible for a moment being the trail of electricity he left behind, phasing through each Gremlin. A gust of wind blew through the hall, ruffling the group's hair before it passed.

Behind the group of Gremlins, Yu reappeared in a kneeling position. His determined smile now completely replaced with a smug grin. When the sword clicked from being completely sheathed, the group of Gremlins suddenly exploded and the trail of lightning dissipated. Everybody remained still, captivated by Yu's impressive technique.

Yu stood up and turned to face the group, giving them a victorious thumbs-up. "Didn't even break a sweat." He adjusted the strap on the sheath to fit around his waist,

The group approached him casually, each of them mutually impressed at Yu. Naoya patted him on the shoulders and ruffled his hair. "Dude, I didn't know you could do something like that. Why didn't you do it before?"

"Thanks. That attack is usually used for taking out large groups of enemies. While we have been outnumbered before, I felt as if it was nothing we couldn't handle. Plus, to pull off an attack like that, I have to be moving as fast as possible and quite honestly, the sword I had before was a little bit too bulky." He retrieved the bag from Naoya's grasp and put it back on.

"To be holding back a technique like that this entire time… I'm astonished," Minato admitted, earning a chuckle from Yu.

"Geez, thanks Minato."

"In fact, once we're out of here, consider me your next opponent." Yu was taken aback at Minato's remark. Naoya rubbed his temples and scolded Minato - who simply chuckled at their reactions- for only having combat on his mind all the time.

"Though… that'd attack would've been much more powerful if I had Izanagi-no-Okami," Yu said.

"Izanagi-no-Okami? Care to explain?" Naoya asked. Yu nodded his head before he began.

"Yeah, the evolved version of Izanagi and the true testament to my power and the bonds I've created over time. I was able to summon him before all of this happened but… now I can't feel him within me anymore."

"Hmm, I can sympathize with you in a sense. My ultimate Persona, Messiah… I can't feel him either. Although, I simply assumed it was due to me using the last of my power to create the Great Seal."

"Now that you mention it, I can't summon Amon Ra. Sounds like we've gotta consult the good ol' Doctor Philemon about this."

"It's obvious what's going on here," Tatsuya interjected. Everybody turned to him, eager to hear his input. "It's the state of this world that's keeping your true strength dormant. We're on Nyarlathotep's turf now. It's like training on dry land, only for the fight to go down underwater. Tell me, would you be able to function properly in that fight?"

"Of course not. But that means the solution to our problem is simple: We keep fighting, until we've returned to full strength. Then, Nyarlathotep will stand no change against us!" Minato exclaimed, being cheered on by Naoya and Yu. Tatsuya remained expressionless, turning his back on the team.

Once again, the hall trembled furiously, it was as if the entire hall were going to cave in on itself.

"Standing here any longer is going to get us killed," Naoya said. "What should we do with our old weapons?"

"Leave 'em. They're nothing but trash now," Tatsuya said. At that, everybody simply shrugged and went with it, the trembling of the hall stopping momentarily.

Further down the hall, was a bend to the left which the group less then eagerly turned down. A few feet ahead of them, there was a bend there was an intersection. They slowly approached it and considered their options. To the left and ahead were both darkened halls and to the right was – surprisingly enough – the stairs.

"Hey, alright!" Naoya enthusiastically yelled. "I'll take it!"

"I love the feeling of finding the stairs early. Let's go," Minato chortled.

Yu and Tatsuya exchanged content glances before following Minato and Naoya. They had reached the top of the stairs, while Minato and Naoya were near the middle. Tatsuya quickly descended while Yu stopped for a quick stretch when the rumbling picked up again, this time causing bits and pieces of the ceiling to crumble above them. A large chunk broke off, large enough to crush one person easily, and fell. It was above Yu, but he couldn't react on time.

"Shit!" Tatsuya blurted out.

"Whoa hey, watch out!" Naoya yelled, moving faster than wind and dashing for Yu while putting a hand on the hilt of his blade. His movements were faster than any human could comprehend as he drew his blade and slashed at the chunk of ceiling multiple times. It broke apart into small bits that rained down to the floor. Naoya placed his sword back in its sheath and let out a sigh of relief.

"W-wha?" Yu managed to stutter out. From his perspective all Naoya did was unsheathe his sword, flick his wrist and put it back, but he knew he did far more than just that.

"That was too close, you were almost a Yu sandwich," Naoya joked, turning around and descending the stairs.

"That was impressive to say the least. You're more skilled with that sword than I initially thought," Minato mused as Naoya passed him on the way down.

"Well what can I do? I can't reveal all my tricks at the start, right?" Naoya stopped in his tracks and turned to Minato.

"But of course, that'd make the rest of the show boring," Minato replied.

"Exactly, and we're in it for the long-run." At that, Naoya finished descending the stairs and motioned for everybody to hurry up.

' _Looks like my team is worth more of my time than I originally thought,'_ Minato thought. Tatsuya and Yu passed Minato on the stairs, Tatsuya giving Minato a dark glare, which he met with a casual grin before descending to the bottom.

It was Naoya who pushed the door and held it open for everybody else to pass through, jokingly telling them to enter in a 'calm and orderly fashion'. He let the door close on its own before joining the others.

In front of them was yet another hallway that led to large double doors, its design being the exact same as the doors that contained the Archangel. It's only difference being two halves of a skull on the center of each door that met in the middle to make one whole skull.

' _At the end of this floor lies the first fragment. But there are three powerful foes blocking your path.'_

"Phew! The final stretch guys, we can do it," Naoya cheered. He hopped in place and threw a few punches at the air in front of him.

"We'll be out of here soon," Yu said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, if we don't end up dying in combat," Minato said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Tch, you won't be dying against whoever our next opponents will be. I'll make sure of it," Tatsuya assured. Minato raised his eyebrow at him, but shook his head.

Yu rummaged through the item bag for a short moment. "We're still doing good on items. But that doesn't mean we should go in recklessly."

"Gotcha. Now, let's do this," Naoya said. At that, the team made their way towards the large doors. "Elizabeth, if you will."

' _A trio of Powers shall be your opposition. There is a shared nullification against dark-based and light-based attacks, making them ineffective and a resistance to the wind element. This concludes any anomaly in their defenses.'_

"That makes this much more annoying than it should be," Tatsuya said, drawing both of his swords as they reached the doors.

"Try not to get too worked up there, you damn hothead," Minato teased. He pressed his hands against the doors. "Let's finish this." He pushed against the doors and opened them with ease, the loud creaking banging against their eardrums until the doors finally closed after they entered the room.

In the center knelt three beings with red armor covering their upper-bodies except for their white, feathered wings on their backs. Their waists were covered with chain mill, and their legs were exposed to the world. Long silk hung from their armor while large red shields were splayed out on the ground in front of them. Next to the shields, long spears were stabbed into the ground.

"Ugh… again with the praying?" Naoya complained. Everybody lined up alongside him and eyed the enemies.

"Amen," they finished. They rose from their knees and picked up their equipment. When they finished rising to face the group, the pressure in the room increased to unpleasant heights and the air thickened. The helmets on their heads covered most of their faces, but their eerie white eyes were easily visible.

"We knew you four would attempt to continue on your path," the first Power, standing to the left, spoke. His chest piece had number 'two' engraved in the center.

"But to have defeated an Archangel…" the second Power, standing in the center, continued. His chest piece had the number 'one' engraved in the center.

"Truly, you wish for the most unpleasant descent into hell itself," the third Power, standing to the right, finished. The number 'three' was engraved in his chest piece.

"What? No chance to repent this time?" Minato teased as he put his right hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

"The Lord forgives…" the first Power started.

"We do not!" The others finished, bending their knees and raising their shields in front of them.

"Well then… that's something we have in common," Tatsuya mumbled.

"Once we deal with these guys, there'll be nothing in our way to the fragment," Yu informed the group.

"Then let's make this quick," Naoya said.

"Fools! Unlike our fallen comrades, we shall not take you lightly from the start!" The Powers said simultaneously.

' _Something is approaching your position at an alarmingly rapid pace.'_ Everybody tensed up at what Elizabeth said.

At that moment, the floor began to rumble furiously, nearly making the group lose balance while the Powers remained completely still.

"Shit, not now!" Naoya yelled. Small pieces of dust fell from the ceiling and pebbles peppered the room. "This whole place is gonna fall apart!" Suddenly, from behind the group, the doors they had entered from burst open violently and a torrent of black ichor flooded through.

"Fuck!" Tatsuya yelled, dodging out of the way as everybody else did the same. The black ichor rushed towards the three Powers and surrounded them in a black hurricane. The hurricane started out thin, but expanded until it was a few feet away from the group before it suddenly exploded and then dissipated.

"This… could mean trouble," Yu muttered. Everybody got their weapons ready and prepared themselves for battle.

The three Powers were still standing when the black hurricane dissipated. Their outward appearances, however, were completely different. Black ichor had completely covered their bodies and increased their height slightly. Their weapons and shields had increased in size similarly, and they now had an extra pair of wings on their backs.

"Death shall come slowly for you lot!" They yelled out together.

"Y'know, I'm honestly not looking forward to this fight now… I mean I wasn't looking forward to it before… but now I really feel like this might hurt," Naoya joked.

"We've come this far. Running with our tails between our legs is no longer an option," Minato said. "We either emerge victorious, or die trying."

" **EN GARDE!"** The first Power shouted, his voice now distorted and barely coherent. He dashed straight for the group as the other Powers followed him in suite.

Minato and Yu leapt over the Powers while Naoya and Tatsuya quickly summoned Seimen Kongou and Apollo to block the rush. The force from the tackle pushed them back slightly but they had managed to keep their balance for the most part. From behind, Yu attempted to attack from their blind spots, but the third Power quickly pivoted and swiped at him. Yu raised his sword to guard the incoming attack, but the force from it sent him flying backwards, only to be caught by Minato.

"Thanks," Yu said, readjusting himself.

"Don't thank me now," Minato replied. He jerked his head to the third Power slowly making his way towards them menacingly. "That attack you pulled off earlier… do you think you can do it again?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he'll just stand still and give me the time to prepare," Yu said. "I'll need you to hold him off for about one minute." Yu summoned Berith and cast Tarukaja on Minato.

"One minute of fun with this son of a bitch sounds delightful," Minato sarcastically said. He gave Yu a confirmation nod before running straight for the Power. The Power held his shield in front of him as he saw Minato quickly approaching with a horizontal slash. A split second before Minato's sword could connect with its target, ichor shot out from the shield and slammed itself into Minato's weapon. "Tch, the hell!?" He jumped back and the ichor flew straight for him in the all too familiar form of a grotesque black arm. Minato quickly summoned Ari Mitama for the gift of Sukukaja and dodged to the side. He quickly raised his sword and slashed down at the black arm, watching as the hand fell to the ground and flopped around violently before dissolving.

The black arm retracted back into the Power's shield as he squeezed on the shaft of the spear in his hand. He flapped his two sets of wings and flew at Minato. On reaction, Minato summoned Orpheus to stop the charge in the same manner Naoya and Tatsuya did. Minato jumped over Orpheus and came down with a flip kick to the Power's shoulder. Just before his heel could collide with the ichor covered armor, another black arm shot out. This one, however, managed to grab Minato before flinging him into a wall a couple of feet away. Minato slid down from the wall painfully slow, his back aching unpleasantly.

' _That damn thing is protecting him each time I try to attack. If power doesn't work then speed has to,'_ He thought as he shakily stood up. He turned his vision towards Yu, who looked like he was just about ready. _'Perfect timing.'_ Minato switched to Valkyrie as his main Persona and felt the passive effects of Sukukaja on his body. He ran at the Power and slammed his left fist into the shield before he could even react. The ichor spread apart at the point of impact and the shield beneath it could be seen for a split second.

In that split second, Minato saw it crack slightly.

Minato gave a cocky grin before he dodged a wide slash from the Power, jumping back and raising his hand in the air. The Power growled lowly before turning around to a loud 'Hey!' from behind him. Yu was bent at the legs, gripping his sword as if his life depended on it, sparks of electricity flying off from his body.

He pushed off from his back leg and vanished.

Across the room, Naoya and Tatsuya were barely holding their own against the two Powers that were applying pressure on them. With each swipe of their spear, a rush of ichor flowed with it and pushed the duo closer to the wall behind them. Naoya aimed his gun for the third Power's head and fired relentlessly, only for the ichor to expand and absorb the bullets.

"Do you have any information that could help us Elizabeth?" Naoya asked, hopping over a low swipe.

' _The creature you previously encountered is in all actuality, a parasite. It would appear that the two are locked in a symbiotic relationship. The Power has a new set of stronger armor, and the parasite has a host.'_

"That thing keeps nullifying our attacks. What the hell do we do!?" Tatsuya asked, sidestepping a thrust from the second Power. He jumped back to make some space and quickly glanced in Minato and Yu's direction. He saw Yu perform the same technique he did on the last floor, vanishing in a flash of light and reappearing a few feet away, while a Sukukaja enhanced Minato unleashed a flurry of blows on the ichor covered Power. Yu's attack carved open the side and blood gushed out while Minato's strikes cracked the armor with each blow.

' _It's defensive maneuvers are all reactionary to your movements.'_

"So all we have to-," Naoya ducked under a horizontal slash. "All we have to do is move faster than it can perceive?"

' _Theoretically, yes.'_ Naoya put away his gun at Elizabeth's response, instead drawing his blade and getting alongside Tatsuya.

"Sounds simple enough. It's a good thing we figured it out early, this fight would've sucked if we didn't."

"You take the one on the right, I'll deal with the one on the left," Tatsuya ordered, summoning Nata Taishi. The Persona appearing behind Tatsuya before charging at the first Power. Nata Taishi generated blue energy in his fist before slamming it into the Power's shield, the ichor reaching out to meet the fist. Tatsuya quickly found his way around the Power and relentlessly began slashing at his back, the ichor having trouble keeping up with Tatsuya's onslaught. In front of the Power, Nata Taishi pulled both his fists back and let out rapid machine-gun punches. Tatsuya tightened his grip on both his swords and performed a cross slash, successfully slicing through the ichor and cutting the Power. At the same time, Nata Taishi threw an uppercut that easily found its way to the Power's jaw and knocked him into the air.

"Now's my chance!" Tatsuya summoned Titan and jumped on his shoulders. The Persona leapt off of the ground and Tatsuya used the momentum to jump off and pass the Power in the air, putting the Power between him and Titan. Tatsuya spun until he was facing the ground and plummeted with both swords aimed at the Power, while Titan drew his sword and kept ascending towards him.

" **Pitiful whelp!"** The Power quickly flapped his wings and spun around, meeting Titan's sword with his shield. The ichor covering him shot out and crushed the Persona in an instant, distracting Tatsuya for a brief moment. Said moment was enough time for the Power to spin and try to slice Tatsuya in half with his spear.

"Shit!" Tatsuya yelled, raising his swords the block the attack. The force proved too much for him to handle as Tatsuya was sent plummeting into the ground below, slamming hard enough into the floor to create a crater. Tatsuya was dazed from the impact, hacking up a copious amount of blood, adding onto the growing puddle he was already laying in. The pain was too much for him to even move, he would need a good healing and fast. He looked up and saw the Power hovering in the same spot where he hit Tatsuya, raising his spear above his head. _'D-dammit… I can't do anything.'_

" **Prepare for an eternity of torment!"** The Power blared before throwing the sword straight for Tatsuya's helpless form. However, just before the spear could impale Tatsuya, it was halted in the air by supersonic speed slashes before falling apart and landing in a heap of broken metal.

' _H-how did-" He coughed up blood. "Who could've?'_ Tatsuya thought.

"Yu! Tend to Tatsuya's injuries!" Naoya called out, quickly turning his back to the Power he was facing. He waited for Yu to give him a thumbs up in acknowledgement before turning back. He leaned back quickly and barely avoided losing his head from another swipe, but then he widened his eyes and time seemed to move in slow motion.

He noticed small strands of his hair falling to the ground. The Power had managed to nip off a few – unnoticeable to the naked eye - strands of his hair.

"M-my hair," Naoya muttered. "Y-you cut… my h-hair…"

" **Naïve boy. Mere aesthetics shall be the least of your worries very soon."**

"Nobody. Touches. MY. **HAIR!** " The air around Naoya thickened and his eyes flashed red. His body heated up and began to produce orange steam. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!"

" **You've no longer the air of a mortal child. Your death will be no pleasant one!"** The Power swiped at Naoya, only for him the dodge and retaliate with multiple slashes of his own. Naoya's movements were unreadable and too quick for the parasite on the Power to react to. Ichor spilled to the ground in massive quantities and the Power tried to raise his guard in numerous, futile attempts to halt Naoya's onslaught. **"Tch. What is the meaning of this?"**

Naoya's only response came in a fierce snarl as he bounded at the Power.

"Come on, don't die on me," Yu pleaded, skidding to a halt besides Tatsuya's battered body. Saying he looked worse for wear would be an understatement if he ever heard one; his breathing was uneven and hoarse, he was covered in his own blood, and his left shoulder looked like it had popped out of its socket from the impact. Wasting no time, he switched to Jack Frost and cast a couple of Dia spells to heal him as best as he could. After the first few casts, Tatsuya's breathing even out and saw small cuts on his skin close up. Minato, much to Yu's chagrin, told him that'd he'd try to hold off the third and first Power's to the best of his ability – not sounding annoyed by the matter in the slightest – while Yu helped Tatsuya. "You alright?"

"The pain is still there, but I can still…" He grabbed his left arm and jerked it about, a sickening pop echoing around the two Persona users. Tatsuya let out a small yelp of pain before rolling his shoulder, "…fight." He turned to his left to see Naoya relentlessly hacking away at the second Power, who didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight in return. Though, Naoya's fighting style didn't sit quite right with Tatsuya at the moment. "Something's wrong… Elizabeth!?"

' _Naoya is suffering from a bout of rage. Self-inflicted, I might add,'_ Elizabeth chimed in.

Tatsuya groaned in irritation at Elizabeth's information. How that idiot brought that upon himself was beyond him, but he knew that it wouldn't help one bit if he remained that way. From his right, he heard Minato grunt in pain and he turned to see why. The third Power had managed to trap Minato in a mass of ichor that was compressing by the second.

"What should we do about Naoya?" Yu asked, observing Naoya show no mercy to the Power he was locked in combat with.

"He seems to be doing just fine on his own… As much as I don't want to, we're going to have to keep Minato from getting crushed." At that, Tatsuya and Yu turned their attention to Minato's dire situation.

' _This… is quite… the p-predicament,'_ Minato thought as he felt the ichor tighten around his body. He turned his head to see the second Power summon a mass of small, green vortexes and launch them at Tatsuya and Yu, who were making their way towards him. _'I just have to-,'_ he felt the ichor compress further. "Gah!" Minato began to sweat profusely, he had to hurry. It was getting harder to breath by the second, and he could feel the air being squeezed from his lungs. _'If I can move m-my hand just a little, then…'_ he felt his hand open slightly, and the warmth of the Tarot card appearing could be felt on his palm. _'Perfect!'_ He crushed it without hesitation, the ichor around him expanding and exploding to reveal Orpheus strumming his lyre.

" **Struggle all you please, in the end, your death is inevitable."**

Minato chuckled at the Power's threat. "Funny thing about me and death…"

Naoya's attacks proved to be fully effective as the final remnants of ichor fell from the Power's armor and onto the ground. The parasite squirmed about helplessly for a brief moment before finally ceasing all movements and dissolving completely. The Power attempted to raise his guard at the now animalistic Naoya, but it once more proved futile as in an instant, his right arm was sliced off brutally by an invisible slash from Naoya's sword, landing on the ground with the spear still in its hand. To the Power, it looked as if Naoya had merely flicked his wrist, but he knew that he had did much more than just that. He screamed in agony and fell to his knees, the pain being too much for him to handle. He was covered in wounds, and the blood pouring from them was troubling. At this rate he only had a matter of time before he'd succumb to his wounds.

"You… fight like any de-demon I've faced before in combat… but I… I shall not yield to you!" The Power yelled as he rose back up. With his remaining arm, he threw his shield straight at Naoya. Naoya, with his animalistic instincts, ducked his head and turned to view the shield get stuck in a wall. Naoya turned back to the Power only to meet a strong left hook, knocking him clean off of his feet and sending him flying through the air, landing on the ground with a thud. He laid on the floor - his sword impaling the ground next to his head - unmoving and making no noise… he had been knocked out cold. The Power opened his hand and created a Hama from beneath Naoya's still body, the hum of magic increasing steadily. "You fought valiantly… but in the end, you could not outrun your-" he halted, dropping his left arm to his side. He was silent for a while, not moving a muscle, nor speaking. Then, without warning he fell forward and his body hit the ground.

He had bled out.

' _Naoya is unconscious. Assistance is vital.'_

"What!?" Yu yelled, looking at Naoya's unconscious form, splayed out on the ground helplessly across from the first Power, who was slowly withering away. _'He managed to take one out… that increases our chances.'_ He turned back and saw Tatsuya attacking the second Power with all of his Personas, black ichor dropping to the ground with each successful blow. He then shifted his gaze to Minato who had switched back to his sword, clashing his weapon with the third Power's own spear, locking them in a Power struggle. "I'm going for Naoya!" Yu called out, gunning for his unconscious teammate.

Ignoring Yu, Minato pushed back against the third Power with all his might. Deflecting the spear and rolling to the side, he summoned Valkyrie and generated four shards of ice around the Power. "Try this on for size," Minato threatened as the four ice shards then closed in on the Power. He raised his shield and the parasite on his armor shot out four black arms to crush the ice.

" **Foolish boy, did you think that would deter me!?"** The Power mocked as he lowered his shield. He gasped in shock as he saw that Minato was no longer in his sight.

"Where are you looking!?" Minato mocked, purposefully giving away his position from behind the Power in mid-air. His sword was back in its sheath and he raised his now, flame covered gauntlets and greaves, and threw out vicious blows in rapid succession. The parasite tried to meet Minato's strikes as best as it could, but Minato proved too fast for it. His attacks broke through, finally smashing the Power's true armor with his vicious force. But Minato wasn't done there as he quickly summoned his Personas to unleash hell upon the Power from all directions. The parasite provided little to no help from Minato's brutal attack, finally dissipating and leaving the Power helpless.

The Power flapped his wings and spun around, shattering Minato's Personas and knocking Minato himself away. "Enough!" He yelled, descending to the ground and holding his spear with both hands. He raised it above his head and slammed it into the ground, creating a wave of yellow energy that spread out across the room. "This battle ends now!"

"Increasing your chances of taking me out," Minato mused. "Good thing it works for both sides." He summoned Orpheus to re-ignite his gauntlets and greaves before running at the Power.

"Bleh! Yuck, that tasted AWFUL," Naoya complained as he spat on the ground to remove the disgusting taste in his mouth. He had almost forgotten how horrid revival beads tasted until Yu seemingly fed him one while he was out. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and, with Yu's help, got back on his feet. "Thanks for that though, you're a real life saver."

"If you don't mind me asking… what came over you Naoya? Elizabeth said your rage was self-inflicted."

"Self-inflicted my ass… Oh, sorry about that Elizabeth," Naoya said. "That bastard ruined my hair… so I gave him the good ol' 'what-for', y'know?" He explained, smiling at Yu's confused expression.

"Your hair looks the same to me," Yu pointed out as he reached out to touch some of Naoya's hair.

Naoya smacked Yu's hand away with enough force to cause the younger male to grab his hand in pain. "Don't. Touch. The. Hair."

"Well uh… never mind that now, we've got to help Minato and Tatsuya."

"Right, let's do that," Naoya said, pulling his sword from the ground. He and Yu exchanged determined looks before making their way to their teammates.

Tatsuya hopped back and tried to catch his breath, finally dealing with the last of the parasite guarding the Power he was fighting. The black ichor dissolved on the ground pathetically, leaving the Power without assistance nor a weapon. "You'll pay with your life for what you did you me." He slashed at the air with both of his swords before running at the Power with them scratching the ground alongside him. The Power raised his shield to defend but Tatsuya jumped to the side and threw one of his swords at an opening. The sword impaled the Power in the side and he howled in pain, the sword embedding itself deep within his body. Tatsuya held his remaining sword with both of his hands and charged at the Power, yelling loudly as he closed the distance quickly and jumping off the ground. He slashed at the Power before landing back on the ground, remaining silent as he heard the Power's head slide off of his body and hitting the ground. His body dropped and slammed against the ground.

Minato was sent in a tumble from a strong shield bash, he adjusted himself mid roll and jumped off, landing back on the ground as gracefully as he could. His eyes met the cold white ones of the last remaining Power. Suddenly he felt the warmth of a Dia being performed on him, easing the pain he felt.

"Took you long enough," Minato joked.

"Sorry for the wait, I got caught up with something else," Naoya replied, standing beside Minato.

"Don't worry, we're all here now," Yu said, stepping next to Naoya. Besides Minato, Tatsuya stepped forward, letting out a small 'humph'.

The Power's eyes widened when he saw the four Persona users standing side by side in front of him. "I-Impossible… how do you still stand?" He looked around and saw the withering body of the third Power, and the empty armor of the first. "M-my brothers. No… Impossible!"

Minato summoned Ari Mitama and casted Sukukaja on the team, while Yu summoned Izanagi to amplify his blade once more.

"You see, that's where you're wrong." Naoya said. He, Minato and Tatsuya ran at the Power with their increased speed. "You thought because you were above us in the food chain, we'd be simple prey," he said, pulling out his gun and firing off shots at the Power. He rose his shield to deflect the bullets, but that gave Naoya the opening he needed. He jumped at the Power and slashed with his blade multiple times in less than a second. The slashes tore clean through his armor and sliced through the body beneath it. He planted both feet on the Power's chest and leapt off, pushing the Power backwards.

"But we're more than just simple prey," Tatsuya continued, appearing behind the Power and impaling both swords into his back. Blood gushed out from the impact point as he pulled them out and kicked off. Sending the Power straight into the ground.

He rose to his knees and coughed up blood. He felt a tap on his helmet, raising his head on pure reaction. He saw Minato waving at him and tried to attack him with his spear, only for Minato to grab it and yank it from him, breaking it in half on his knee. "The outcome of this battle was decided the moment it began," he informed pulling back his fists and unleashing waves of ruthless strikes to the Power's face. Blood flew in multiple directions as the Power yelled in agony. Minato stepped back and gave the Power a chance to look at him from beneath the cracked and bloodied helmet. Minato jumped backwards and landed next to Naoya and Tatsuya, who were both standing behind Yu as he charged up his attack.

"Because with us. Nothing is impossible," Yu finished, electricity flying off of him in sparks and small bolts of lightning hitting the ground around him. He pushed off the ground and vanished for a brief second, a trail of electricity tore through the Power, painfully shocking him as Yu reappeared in front of his team. He sheathed his sword slowly, the clicking of it being fully sheathed being the only noise in the large room. The moment it was sheathed, blood suddenly exploded from the Power as he fell apart at the seams, dissolving almost instantly.

Yu stood up and gave the group another thumbs up and a cheeky grin. Everybody gave him a grin in approval before Yu fell forward in exhaustion, being caught by Tatsuya before he hit the ground.

"S-sorry about that… it looks like I'm out of energy," Yu said, breathing heavily from over-exertion.

"No worries Yu, you're not the only one," Naoya assured. Then from the other end of the room, a giant light appeared for a few seconds before vanishing, revealing a large door that resembled the one they had entered from. Yu waved off Tatsuya, telling him that he could stand on his own now.

"Let's finish this," Yu said, making his way towards the new door, being followed by everyone else. He, with the help of Minato, pushed the doors open and walked through.

There, at the end of the hall, radiating with a bright red light was the first fragment. It was a large triangle that floated in midair, shining brilliantly with nothing in between it and the group.

' _Behold. The first Chaos fragment,'_ Elizabeth chimed in. The group made their way towards it, admiring it in all of its glory.

"Wow, it's much bigger up close," Naoya pointed out. The fragment was twice as big as his hand, and despite being so close to it, the intense light wasn't harming his eyes.

"Alright, now how do we do this 'Spiritual Cleansing' that Philemon mentioned?" Minato asked, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.

Tatsuya, without warning, placed his hand on the bottom corner of the fragment. Everybody eyed him curiously, but decided that, when nothing bad happened, to mimic his action. Naoya placed his hand on the bottom left corner, Yu placed his on the top corner, while Minato placed his hand on the bottom center.

"Alright… now what?" Naoya whispered.

' _Now... focus on the spiritual energy within yourselves.'_ A new voice, Philemon's, guided. His voice was soothing and gentle, complimenting his usual calm and collected tone. Everybody shut their eyes and attempted to do what Philemon said. The hall was silent for a few seconds, nothing out of the ordinary occurring.

Then, simultaneously, everybody's eyes shot open, their pupils gone and their eyes shining a bright blue and white hue. Wind howled from around them, making their clothes and hair billow violently. The hall around them fell apart and the world around them before they were engulfed in a bright light.

.

..

…

 _The lobby of the Mikage-cho hospital was in shambles. Garbage littered the floor, chairs were pushed over and vending machines were almost toppled over. Four high school students ran into the lobby and was taken aback at the large mess that greeted them. To their right was a nurse who seemed just as shocked as they were, trembling violently at what stood before her. In front of them, a well-dressed aged man was lying on the floor, mortally wounded. To their left stood four green creatures with tattered clothing, disheveled hair, and sickening wounds covering their bodies._

" _Th-the dead patients suddenly got up and walked… That old man rescued me and… Noooo!" She screamed, running away out of pure fear over what could happen if she stayed._

 _One of the students, a boy wearing a yellow beanie and a brown backpack – Mark - stepped back. "What!? These guys were dead? Is this for real!?" His eyes widened in shock over the situation… it was something he thought would only happen in the movies. Yet here he was, in the midst of it all._

 _Another student, Nanjo, wearing glasses and a blue scarf around his neck with slicked back hair knelt down besides the aged man. "Yamaoka! You bastards… How DARE you!?" He stood up and gave the creatures his darkest glare. "I'll never forgive you bastards!"_

 _A third student, a girl with neatly kept hair – Yukino - pulled out a knife. "Careful, guys!" She shouted, somehow managing to keep a calm disposition given the circumstances._

" _How the hell are we supposed to fight somethin' that's already dead!?" Mark screamed._

 _The fourth student, a boy with blue hair reaching down besides his eyes, remained silent as he kept his gaze on the four creatures. How the hell did things come to this? All he wanted to do was visit a sick friend in the hospital yet here he was, facing potential Death in the face. He had to do something, it couldn't end like this, he wasn't ready to die._

 _More importantly, he had to protect his friends. The only question was how?_

 _His answer came in an unusual way. From within him, he felt something that begged to be released, that screamed to be used. It felt as if it was going to burst out of him if he didn't do something soon._

 _What was it that the weird guy with the stupid mask said?_

' _Are you aware of the many and varied selves you harbor within you?' He remembered. Could this feeling he felt in his gut be one of those 'selves'? There was only one way to find out. At that moment, one of the creatures lunged forward and slashed at him with its mangled arm. He flinched only for the attack to never hit him._

 _Did he dodge it?_

 _Did something deflect it?_

 _He would never know. But, whatever it was that resided within him had supposedly ran out of patience as it started to come forth with renewed vigor._

' _Looks like it's time to put up or shut up,' he thought as he found his resolve._

 _The boy shut his eyes and let it come out._

 _._

 _.._

…

 _The basement of the Sumaru Prison was almost always occupied by four students from Cuss High, who practiced their music in the vacant room. However, the room was occupied by not only the four Cuss High students, but three students from Seven Sisters High School – considered to be the rival of Cuss High._

 _Three of the four Cuss High students leaned against the wall while their leader faced the three students from Seven Sisters High School. He pointed his left index finger at one of them, a brunette boy who was currently speaking to a blonde girl._

" _Hold it, Tatsuya!" The Cuss High student called out. That had caught his attention. "I hate to stoop this low… But for the sake of my bros, I can't let you go this easily." He took a step forward. "For my honor as the Death Boss, I'm dragging you into my band!"_

 _The blonde girl raised her arms to her side and shrugged her shoulders while shaking her head. "'Death Boss'!? More like Undie Boss!" The three Cuss High students against the wall all tensed up at what she just spoke. "I've heard the rumors! You became Boss by pantsing people, didn't you?" The Cuss High students all looked at each other for an answer, but nobody spoke._

 _The leader of the Cuss High students tensed up and his anger soared to new heights. The Cuss High student in the center stepped behind him, while the student to his left stepped in front. "U-Uh-oh… Michel-san!" The second student tried to calm down his leader, but to no avail._

" _Undie…" The air around him thickened and the pressure in the basement increased drastically. Tatsuya's breath hitched in his throat from the power coming in waves from the Cuss High leader – Michel was his name… but he preferred to be called Eikichi._

' _Wh-what's happening…!?' The blonde girl, Lisa, thought as she too felt the power flowing from Eikichi._

 _The power from Eikichi overflowed and it knocked his subordinates off of their feet. "Don't! Call! Me! Undie! My name is Eikichi Mishina! EIKICHI MISHINAAAAA!" He pounded his fists together in an attempt to look tough. "Come, Deathbringer!" He yelled out, from his body came a man whose waist had the appearance of the front of a motorcycle manifested. His body had the appearance of several side mirrors and his arms and legs were covered in purple cloth._

" _I am Rhadamanthus… the judge of the netherworld. I shall sever your foes' sins with my blade of judgement!" He raised his right arm and pointed towards Lisa, causing a torrent of water to appear from below her and slam into her before he vanished._

" _Aaaaaaaagh…!" Lisa fell onto her butt as a spirit appeared from her body. "Haime… Seriously?" She was left in awe at what she saw. From her came what looked like an angel, with purple wings and puffs of cotton covering her feet, waist, shoulders and head. Her wings were a bright pink and in her hand she held a pink bow._

" _I am Eros… My golden arrows kindle love's flames… I shall be your strength, my other self…" She vanished and Lisa fainted from the amount of energy taken from her._

" _H-H-How can you use it too!?" Eikichi was in disbelieve over what he had just saw. For all he knew, he was the only person who held a Death Spirit within him._

 _Tatsuya had saw the whole thing and was in the same state Eikichi was in. 'Just what the hell was going on here?' He thought. He turned to Eikichi when a voice called out to him._

" _Fear not… Take my hand…" It said. Tatsuya keeled over in pain. Something felt like it needed to come out, like it needed to burst forth and reveal itself. In front of him, Eikichi looked like the epitome of terrified over the events that were transpiring. Tatsuya couldn't keep it in any longer._

 _He let it burst forth._

 _.._

…

 _The rooftop of the Iwatodai co-ed dorm was bathed a sickly yellow-greenish hue from the full moon's glow. The door leading to the inside of the building burst forth as a boy and a girl ran through and onto the roof._

 _The girl, a brunette wearing a pink cardigan sweater and black shorts slammed the door shut behind her, sighing in relief at their desperate escape. Behind her, the boy, whose blue hair covered his left eye, wearing a black jacket over a white dress shirt with black slacks (the school's uniform), looked at her with an expressionless gaze._

" _I think we're okay for now…" the girl, Yukari was her name, assured him. He was still confused as to just what the hell was going on. Why the hell did she wake him up in the middle of the night? Why the hell did she drag him to the rooftop? And more importantly…_

 _Why was the moon so ugly to look at?_

 _He was rattled from his thoughts as they heard rumbling coming from the side of the large building. Yukari gasped in shock and turned her attention to the ledge of the rooftop. There, black hands emerged from the side and climbed over the ledge, making its way onto the room. A large creature with an uncountable amount of hands wielding either a blue mask or a large knife appeared before their eyes._

 _Ok… this was new._

 _They appeared in its eyesight and it charged for them, large blue drills emerging from the floor with each step it took._

 _Yukari gasped and pulled out a gun, pointing it towards her head and taking deep breaths. The boy looked at her with confusion. 'W-what the hell is she doing!?' He screamed inwardly. But before Yukari could pull the trigger, the giant creature smacked her away with its giant hand, knocking the gun out of her hands and causing it to land besides the blue haired boy. He looked at the giant creature, then to the gun, then back at the creature, then once again back at the gun. He knew what would happen if he didn't do anything._

 _He didn't know what would happen if he did._

 _He didn't know two of his seniors were preparing to make their way towards him from below._

 _He didn't know they were halted by their curious superior._

 _Opting for the unknown, he picked up the gun and eyed it. It felt too light for it to be an ordinary gun, and the 'S.E.E.S' engraving on the side meant that it was a high quality weapon. It felt as if the moon shined even brighter than before as his body lifted the gun to his head without him even realizing it. He shut his eyes from the fast approaching creature. He shut his eyes from the creepy, prison clothed boy standing in front of him. He shut his eyes from the outside world. Something told him that nothing bad would happen if he fired the gun to his head. While any normal person would've cast that thought aside, the thought felt trustworthy to him._

 _The cold metal pressed against his skull and for a brief moment he felt powerful. He felt as if his next choice would decide the fate of the world. His mouth opened and his voice came out in a low whisper._

" _Per_. _So_ _.Na."_

 _He pulled the trigger._

 _._

 _.._

…

 _This new world was… odd, in a sense of the word._

 _Three people (or two people and a… bear… thing) stood in front of a replica of the town's liquor store._

 _They had entered the world in the television a second time to find answers about the mysterious death of his friend Yosuke's crush, Saki Konishi. After what felt like hours of walking, they had arrived here, a perfect – not so perfect reflection of their own world. Specifically, Yasoinaba's northern shopping district's own Konishi Booze Liquor Store. The door to the store had been replaced with a red and black vortex of some sorts, piquing his curiosity while creeping his friend Yosuke out. Behind him, their new companion, Teddie, looked on curiously._

 _From the vortex came two slimy creatures with blue masks. Hitting the ground before rising up and staring at the trio from behind the masks. Yosuke gasped and fell back, trembling in fear over what could be his impending doom. The two creatures rushed forward, making Yosuke scream and clench up._

 _But they moved past him._

 _Their real target, was the boy behind Yosuke who was standing next to Teddie. His eyes widened from behind his glasses and he reeled back slightly in fear, sweat dropping down the side of his face. The two creatures lifted up from the ground and took the shape of a ball before turning inside out and changing their appearance entirely._

 _They were now pink, floating balls with black swirls and large mouths. Their lips were big and their tongues were hanging from out of their opened mouths._

 _They looked… disgusting to say the least._

 _The silver haired boy felt something sharp ring through his mind and he clutched his head with his right hand in pain. He heard a voice._

" _I am thou, thou art I. The time has come. Open thine eyes and call forth what is within!" It preached to him. His eyes widened when he heard a ring and when he removed his hand, he saw a Tarot card in it. He flipped the card over and saw that the other side was blank for a brief moment before it began to shine brightly. He felt a torrent of power wash over him in waves and it gave him a euphoretic sensation, a dark smile creeping its way onto his face._

 _Besides him, Teddie looked on in both shock and confusion. The silver haired boy opened his mouth and his voice came out in a whisper._

" _Per_. _So_ _.Na."_

 _The card shined even brighter, and the silhouette of a man appeared in his hand before the card was engulfed in blue flames._

 _It was hard to explain but while he didn't know what to do next, he did as well._

 _He enclosed the flames in his hand._

 _._

 _.._

…

The hall reformed and the winds died down as quickly as they appeared. When everything returned to normal, everybody fell over in pure exhaustion, huffing as they tried to regain their breath. Nobody spoke for a while as they all tried to comprehend what just happened.

"What the hell was that!?" Tatsuya yelled, regaining his energy after the experience.

"I'm not sure about you guys… but I remember that moment in my life perfectly… It was when I first used my Persona," Naoya said, using the wall for support and wiping the sweat off of his face.

"It was the same for me," Minato said, sitting on the ground, still breathing heavily.

"I… I think the fragment made us relive all of our awakenings," Yu said, finally breathing evenly.

"The fragment… it's gone," Naoya pointed out. Everybody turned to where the fragment originally was only to see that it had vanished.

"Looks like we've got quite the story to tell Philemon the next time we go into the Velvet Room," Minato mused. "But for now, let's get the hell out of here. I'm tired of looking at all of these walls."

"Right. Everybody, gather around me," Yu requested as he pulled a traesto gem out of the pouch. When everybody was accounted for, he crushed it in his hand and pocketed the pouch as a bright light formed from in between the group. The light engulfed the team and expanded across the hall.

When the light was gone, the group had vanished.

* * *

The throne room was dark and eerie, the only presence being one person on the throne and four hooded men standing in front of the fancy black and red chair.

" **It would appear that Philemon has finally made his move,"** the man seated in the throne stated, swishing a glass of red liquid in his right hand while he leaned his head in his left. **"Good, I was beginning to grow bored."**

One of the four kneeling men stood up but kept his gaze to the ground. "Should we eliminate them?" He asked. His voice was deep, but not deep enough to where it lost all sense of youth.

"I suggest we make our appearance beautiful yet deadly. Enough to leave them in shock and awe before we rip their hearts out," another hooded man said. His voice was light and soothing, enough to sound almost feminine.

"Tch, why make it look fancy, eh? Why not just get it over with?" The third hooded man complained.

" **No. It is not yet time for you to show your faces,"** the man on the throne said, taking a sip of the red liquid. **"In the timeless game of chess, pawns are expendable but can reach the king just as easily as any other piece can in the capable hands. Philemon has forgone using pawns and as such, has already sent out his knights,"** he mused. **"Unlike my other half, I will do no such thing. Only when I feel the time is right, will I send you lot out. For now, you wait."**

The three hooded men who spoke previously merely turned on their heels and walked away. The fourth, who spoke not once remained still for a moment before doing the same.

" **Those four will prove to be excellent entertainment further down the line. I can only dream of the fun I'll have as things begin to descend into madness. But in the end, it will be I, the Almighty Nyarlathotep, who stands above all as the new God of this realm!"**

* * *

 **Did you guys miss me?**

 **I do hope this chapter makes up for the irritatingly long wait (if it was long for you guys in the first place.)**

 **The team's finally done with the first dungeon, their shared determination/arrogance keeping them from copping out early and getting the job done as soon as possible.**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Team Bonding. II – Clash of the Titans Part 1**

 **-Reviews**

 **EternalCombOver: Hehehehehehe. Well, they are a bunch of pretty boys when you look at them from solely an aesthetic perspective. But they've got balls, that's for sure. Magical Mcguffin, hehe, that'll never get old.**

 **I'm really pleased to hear that the combat has improved since the beginning, it shows that I'm doing a better job than I initially thought. In hindsight, I probably could've thought of something better for the dungeon boss. But at the same time, I really didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer... eh, that's just a bad excuse on my part, apologies. Great, now I can't get the image of an all-powerful Skeletor sitting on a fancy throne out of my head (not that I'd want it out of my head.)**

 **...Oh! And yes, a month's wait for this chapter was not going to happen.**

 **Mocasiotorres27: Thank you! As for the Persona 5 MC, I don't see myself adding him into the story. I feel as if by the time Persona 5 does come out, I'll be too far into the story for him to provide any relevant support and thus wouldn't be making good on his vast potential as a character. Making another story with him as the MC does sound interesting though...**

 **Rittie: I do believe Naoya himself would disagree on the notion of his anger being dumb, the man likes his hair. To have Minato and not have Thanatos is like having Street Fighter without Ken Masters... a sin. As for your question on me adding the Persona 5 MC, somebody asked the same question and I responded to them in suite. Your answer can be found right above this response... also, props on the fan-name you gave him.**

 **Extraneous: ...For once I have nothing to say other than...:** **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

It was nighttime back in the real world, with the moon illuminating the world in a gorgeous pearl white light. Next to the subway stairs, searing light exploded from seemingly nowhere before dissipating into nothingness. From the light stood four heavily exhausted men who looked as if they were on the brink of collapse.

Naoya observed their surroundings before sighing in relief. "We're finally out of there," he said, stretching his arms and yawning loudly. He scratched the back of his neck and wet his lips. "Never have I ever been this exhausted in my life… no wait, I've experienced worse. But this is still tiring."

"Should we report our success to Philemon?" Minato asked. The Velvet Room door was still in the same spot they had left it, humming lowly in the night as it bathed the group in a dim light.

"I'm almost positive that he already knows what transpired in there for the most part. For now, we recuperate," Tatsuya answered. "Now it's just a matter of deciding the watch order for tonight."

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Yu spoke up with a bleak tone, almost succumbing to his exhaustion.

"Care to enlighten us?" Tatsuya asked.

"Well it's simple really. As an avatar of power, Elizabeth… and by extension Margaret, aren't exactly what we call human, correct?" Minato and Naoya nodded while Tatsuya remained still. "Therefore, they don't have to be subjected to the necessities of human survival, specifically needing food and sleep."

"Get to the point already," Tatsuya pressed, quickly losing his patience.

"Uh, s-sorry. Basically, with somebody who doesn't need sleep serving as our support, we can rest easy without keeping watch. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier… or why you didn't either for that matter, Minato."

"Shut up," Minato said.

"Relax, he's just joking," Naoya said. "Alright, where are we bunking on this fine night guys?"

"That supermarket you guys went into… how many demons did you encounter?" Tatsuya asked Naoya and Yu.

"Just the Jack brothers. Other than them, the place seemed pretty dead," Naoya replied. "Though giving it another scan wouldn't hurt anybody… well, us at least."

"Then we'll have Elizabeth give us a quick scan of the area before we call it a night." Tatsuya said. At that, the team made their way around and into the market.

After entering quietly, both Minato and Tatsuya eyed what was in their view. It was dark with the only source of light being the moon outside shining through the broken glass doors.

"Elizabeth?" Minato spoke up.

' _I sense no abnormalities in the immediate area. Take solace in the knowledge that you have found a temporary safe haven.'_

"Sounds like a green light to me," Yu said. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders before rubbing his eyes.

"Alright gentlemen, make yourselves at home," Naoya drawled before walking into an empty aisle. He turned to one of the shelves before wiping off all of the debris and dropping his weapons. "I'm goin' to sleep. If you guys feel the notion to wake me up in the middle of the night… please second guess it." At that, he crawled into the now empty shelf and immediately fell asleep.

"It's a pretty roomy market, so you've definitely got enough room to get comfy," Yu said before silently yawning. "I'll see you guys in the morning," he mumbled as he tiredly waved at Minato and Tatsuya before walking out of their sight.

"And then there were two," Minato mused. "You mind telling me a bedtime story to help me sleep."

Tatsuya tilted his head in Minato's direction. "I don't like you. In fact, I think you're a hindrance to the team."

Minato put a hand to his heart and gasped in mock pain. "And here I thought we were slowly becoming the best of friends."

"I would never be friends with a buffoon like you. You've been holding us back from the start and we'd be better off without you," Tatsuya said with a scowl.

"Yeah, because you've been a pivotal member to our little ragtag group. If it weren't for you, somebody might have scraped a knee back there," Minato chortled.

"All you care for is senseless combat. You've yet to use your head for anything important."

"You're one to talk. I've seen your face when you take one of them out, Suou," Minato said while stepping closer to Tatsuya. "You try to hide it, but I can read you like a book," he took another step. "Your eyes light up with each stab into their flesh," another step. "Your lips twitch as if your trying to stifle a grin each time they howl in pain," another. "You're as fucked up as the rest of us," at this point, Minato was a hair's length from Tatsuya's body.

Tatsuya was mere seconds away from popping a blood vessel. Each time Minato even opened his mouth, he was being pushed closer to the open arms of insanity. He felt a sharp pain shoot through his head for a split second before it vanished, leaving him confused as to what caused it. Realizing Minato was too close for comfort and having enough of his drabble, Tatsuya forcefully shoved him back and unsheathed his swords.

"Hmm, as much as I'd love for us to just let loose and mangle each other, I've grown a bit tired over recent events," Minato said. "Sorry, but can I get a raincheck?"

"It's time somebody taught you how to shut up," Tatsuya remarked boldly, gripping his swords tightly.

"Hey!" Yu appeared at the front of one of the aisles. "That's enough," he called out, quickly stepping in between them. "This is no time for a fight you two," he turned his head to both teammates. Tatsuya looked just about ready to kill something and Minato wore a creepy grin that sent a chill down Yu's spine. "Channel all of this anger into our teamwork, please. Fighting each other will get us nowhere." The market fell silent for what felt like eternity to Yu.

His words seemed to have some effect because Tatsuya slowly put his swords back and walked away to a far off corner in the market. Minato saw this and chuckled quietly, leaning against one of the dirty cash registers stationed by the front doors.

"I feel like I'm not wrong for thinking this started because of you," Yu said to Minato. "Look, I don't know what's going on between you two, but you guys are gonna have to squash it, immediately." Minato merely waved Yu off as slid into a seated position on the ground. Yu shook his head and turned around to look at Naoya's sleeping form. _'How he managed to sleep through that is a mystery,'_ he thought before returning to his sleeping area.

Minato continued to gaze outside in thought as he removed his weapons. Pharos appeared and immediately took a seat to Minato's left. "He really doesn't seem fond of your presence," Pharos mused.

Minato snorted in response. "Ya don't say? Don't tell me you've forgotten how good I was at making friends," he said, turning to Pharos while raising the eyebrow above his one visible eye.

Pharos giggled at Minato's remark while leaning against his left shoulder. "Friends you say? They seemed more akin to tools used to further your power."

"At first, that's almost exactly what they were. But later down the line they became something more…" Minato frowned. "It wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that I almost miss them in a way." A pregnant silence grew between them.

"Say… why did you choose this part of the building to rest in?" Pharos asked.

"Well, that much is obvious," Minato replied before leaning down to rest on his right shoulder. From where he was lying down, the moon was in the center of his sights, shining down beautifully onto his visage. Minato shut his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Pharos smiled at how fast Minato had dozed off before turning his attention elsewhere. He looked down one of the aisles and his gaze met Naoya's own, seemingly being awake the entire time. Neither had broken off their stares for a good moment, nor had they even blinked once for that matter. It was when Pharos gave Naoya an innocent smile and vanished in his usual wisp of smoke, that Naoya had decided to roll over and shut his eyes, quickly drifting into the sweet arms of slumber.

In the far corner of the supermarket, Tatsuya was lying down with his hands under his head as he stared at the ceiling illuminated by the small debris fire he had created. Both of his swords were in their sheaths, leaning against the nearby wall. Lying so close to the intense heat didn't cause him strife, instead, it helped quell his anger.

"Minato… you'll soon learn the divide in our class," he mumbled as he rolled over.

Sitting against one of the walls, Yu was in deep thought over what could've transpired had he not arrived. He sword was placed on his lap and he stared at it while he reflected. _'Those two go at it like they're each other's greatest enemies. If they don't deal with their problems soon, things could get ugly at the wrong time. If only there was some way to give them a push in the right direction…'_ he pondered. _'No use thinking about it now… I'm sure something can provide me with the proper answer in due time.'_ He shut his eyes and slowly succumbed to his exhaustion, falling asleep like everybody else.

* * *

Nothing attacked them overnight.

* * *

Tatsuya was supposedly the last one to wake up, cause when he rose from his slumber, Naoya was practically flipping the market upside-down looking for Yu. He grabbed his swords and made his way to the older Persona user. Minato was seated by the entrance, apparently meditating despite the large commotion Naoya was making.

"Yu!? Come on Yu!" He yelled out. He put his hand to his chin in thought. "Maybe he'll come out for a Scooby snack…" he snapped his fingers in success, seemingly pleased with the idea.

Tatsuya approached Naoya from behind, taking note of him already in possession of his weapons. "Did it ever cross your mind that he could be in the Velvet Room?" Naoya turned around and pursed his lips at Tatsuya.

"U-um… O-of course I did!" Naoya yelled. "What kind of idiot do you take me for?" He asked Tatsuya, squinting his eyes and pointing his finger at him.

"A very special kind. One that only appears once in every generation of Persona users," Tatsuya mumbled, rolling his eyes in slight irritation. "Come on, let's go." He walked past Naoya and made his way to the entrance, stopping to direct his gaze at Minato.

"Take a picture… it lasts longer," Minato said before rising to his feet. He adjusted his hair quickly before grabbing his belongings and motioning to the door. "Shall we?"

Tatsuya gave Minato a dirty look before leading the way to the Velvet Room. The short walk was silent, save Minato humming a tune to a rap song and Naoya snapping his fingers every two steps. The intense heat from the days before their entry into the underground labyrinth had subsided slightly, instead being replaced by mild humidity and the occasional soft breeze. When they arrived, Naoya stepped forward and opened the door, letting everybody walk through before he entered.

The sounds of combat greeted them upon entry. In front of their very eyes, Yu was locked in combat with Margaret, whose power clearly eclipsed Yu's fighting potential. The other denizens looked on calmly, enjoying the battle between Margaret and Yu.

"Are we interrupting somethin'?" Naoya whispered to Minato.

"Nonsense, for now we're just observers. Observers of what appears to be a spectacular showing."

"Izanagi!" Yu yelled as he summoned his Persona. Izanagi appeared and threw his spear at Margaret before flying at her at breakneck speeds. Margaret sidestepped the spear and lifted her compendium in front of her face to block a strong punch from Izanagi. She widened her eyes and a torrent of energy exploded from her, completely decimating Izanagi and causing Yu to cover his face.

Fighting from a distance, Margaret summoned six tarot cards and flicked at the air in front of her, launching the cards like bullets straight for Yu. Yu raised his sword to deflect each card as they approached him at speeds he almost couldn't react to. The cards were repelled, albeit sloppily, before they could cause any significant damage to Yu's body. When he returned his attention to Margaret's position, he had noticed that she was no longer there. He looked to his left and right with beady eyes, hoping to pinpoint her new location, but could not complete the task.

"Over here!" Margaret yelled from behind Yu. He ducked down to avoid a spinning kick aimed for his neck before planting one hand on the ground and aiming an upwards kick to Margaret's chin. Margaret grabbed Yu's legs and easily hoisted him into the air with her right arm. Dangling and upside down, Yu clicked his tongue and swiped at Margaret's chest. Using the compendium in her left hand, she easily blocked the blade, quickly nullifying Yu's attack. She whipped her right arm and leg go of Yu, causing him to spin in place at an unnatural speed and drop his sword. She put her hand right in front of Yu's still spinning body before flicking him with enough force to send him flying across the Velvet Room and crashing into the row of chairs and destroying them. Margaret noticed a stray strand of hair in her face and fixed it. "This duel is over," she said calmly, picking up Yu's sword and throwing it at where he had stopped.

Yu slowly got back on his feet the same time he saw his sword impale the ground next to him. "Ngh… I can s-still fight," he said between breaths. His hair was disheveled and he was hunched over in pain.

"I do not doubt that, my dear guest," Margaret assured him. "We have gathered an audience and I do not wish to embarrass you," she covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. By the entrance to the Velvet Room, Naoya waved at the stupefied Yu while Minato blew his hair out of his face (a futile attempt as it merely fell back down to cover his eye once again.)

Tatsuya was merely flicking his lighter.

"Furthermore, should we continue our waltz, it may result in the abrupt end of your life." Margaret opened her compendium and whispered something incoherent. Moments later, a bright light engulfed Yu and healed all the damage he took during their fight.

"I guess you're right… Can you tell me how I did?" Yu asked, grabbing his sword and putting it back in his sheath. He walked up to Margaret and gave her a genuine smile.

"You are yet weak in your current state. However, should you return to the strength that you once were… it would be considered a crime for us not to dance once more," Margaret answered for him.

"That's not the analysis that I hoped for," Yu solemnly mumbled as he lowered his head in defeat. Margaret put her hand under his chin and raised his head up to face her properly.

"Do not feel distraught for even a second," Margaret whispered to him. "Your true strength is something that needs to be feared by all who oppose you and your potential is limitless. It shall not be long before you surpass me in power, as you have done in the past." With that, she removed her hand from Yu's chin and ruffled his hair before returning to her place seated next to Igor. Yu let out a sigh of relief - seemingly content with Margaret's supposed compliment – and made his way towards the team.

The denizens of the Velvet Room watched as Margaret returned to her seat before they turned their attention to the guests in synchronization.

"So… thanks to our friendly neighborhood cannonball, we don't have a place to sit anymore," Naoya joked. Yu gave him a condescending look before Naoya patted him on the back. "I'm kidding Yu, come on."

Philemon snapped his fingers and the pile of broken chair pieces reformed instantly, appearing as if they had never been broken in the first place.

"Well then never mind," Naoya mumbled before approaching his seat with the rest of the team in tow. He sat down in the seat farthest to the left with Yu occupying the one to his right. Besides Yu, Tatsuya sat down while Minato was seated in the seat on the right.

"So, anybody wanna talk about the elephant in the room or is it just me?" Minato joked, shifting his gaze between Margaret and Yu.

"What transpired is none of your concern. That remains between my guest and I," Margaret said.

"Well it was worth a shot," Minato mused. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his right leg over his left. He rested his arms on the chair's armrests and sighed in mock defeat.

"Congratulations are in order for your first success," Philemon stated. "I'm sure you all must feel proud of yourselves, as you should."

"It was tough, but we managed to pull through in the end," Naoya said. He scratched the back of his head and turned to the team. "We set aside our differences and worked together for the greater good."

"Right," Yu agreed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Minato admitted.

"Some more than others," Tatsuya stated. Minato gave him a sidelong look, knowing who he was obviously referencing with that sly comment. Tatsuya turned his attention back to the denizens, namely Philemon. "When we cleansed the fragment, we were given a glimpse of each other's pasts, specifically our awakenings. Why is that?" He asked.

"Ah yes, you deserve an explanation for what transpired," Philemon said. Everybody, with the exception of Tatsuya, gave Philemon an expectant gaze. "As I've said before, Chaos existed far before the universe came to be. As such, it has been present since the very dawn of time, existing during every event that has transpired in your world. When you came into contact with the fragment, it reacted to the Wild Card within you and replayed the past. As to why it showed specifically your awakenings, it comes from it being a pivotal point in your respective lives." When nobody spoke, he continued. "Consider Chaos to be a divine record, if you will; keeping track of the events of any and all existing creatures from the very beginning to as we speak this very moment. Should something life changing occur in their lives, Chaos saves the event as a high-priority moment, a perfect example being your respective awakenings."

"So is it wrong to believe every time we come into contact with a fragment, we'll be given a recap of something that went down during our journeys?" Minato asked.

"I cannot say for sure what you may experience from this point on, but a simple assumption such as that can be called a step in the right direction."

"If you don't mind me asking, do you think you might have an idea as to what Nyarlathotep is planning?" Yu asked.

"Unfortunately, I cannot answer that question. All I can say is that he's lying in wait, potentially wallowing in his own self-extolment over the fact that the world now lies under his hypothetical rule. I recall telling you that he split Chaos into the fragments due to the fact that the raw power was too much for him to handle, correct?" Everybody nodded their heads. "Well, he was in contact with Chaos long enough for him to sync with its essence. Despite splitting it into the fragments, he has slowly been absorbing energy from each and every piece, increasing his power tenfold with each passing moment."

"So since we've dealt with the first fragment, there's no way he couldn't be aware of our existence then," Naoya murmured. "Further proving that we need to act fast."

"Exactly," Philemon confirmed. "Now, onto other matters… Igor, if you will."

"Of course Master," Igor. "It has come to our attention that you have recently acquired new power in the form of more Persona."

"Hmm? Oh yeah, we got some new bad boys in stock!" Naoya proclaimed.

"Moreover, you have also gained new weaponry," Margaret reminded them.

"Also correct… uh, sorry about just leaving behind the old ones though," Yu apologized as he scratched the back of his head.

"You needn't worry; I bore no attachments to those items. So long as you were able to find some use in them."

"Well then, with all of these new Personas in our grasp, let's talk fusion," Naoya urged.

"Wait," Tatsuya interrupted. "There's something I need to deal with first." Naoya and Yu turned to Tatsuya with confused expressions painted on their faces. Tatsuya stood from his chair and turned to Minato.

"Oh? Does this have anything to do with me?" Minato feigned ignorance.

"You know very well that this has everything to do with you. You and me… now," Tatsuya threatened. He unsheathed his swords and gave Minato a cold stare.

Minato sighed and uncrossed his legs as he got out of his seat. "It looks like the dog does bite after all," he said as he pounded his fists together. "Guess this means that it's time for you to be put down."

"Guys, come on let's not get-" Yu was interrupted as Naoya placed a silencing arm in front of him. Yu turned to Naoya in disagreement only to for Naoya to shake his head.

"Let them be, Yu. This could be good for them," he calmly said. All traces of his usual joyful and goofy personality were gone, leaving only a serious exterior.

"But-"

"Let. Them. Be. I won't repeat myself." Yu stared at Naoya stupidly before gritting his teeth and turning his attention towards the floor.

"I'd much rather we do this outside. I don't want any of your blood to spill on these freshly cleaned floors," Minato said.

"Tch, I can't wait to crush that smug disposition of yours," Tatsuya said. He gave one last look to the denizens before making his way towards the door with Minato right behind him. Tatsuya opened the door with slightly extra force than necessary and stepped outside without a word, Minato doing the same. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the Velvet Room in almost complete silence.

"What the hell, Naoya!? Why couldn't I stop them!?" Yu yelled out furiously. "Weren't you the one who said we needed to act fast? This is only keeping us from our duties!"

"Yu, you try your hardest to preserve the team's camaraderie and I respect that, I really do," Naoya said. "But sometimes, you have to learn when to sit back and just let things happen. Besides, we won't be able to act at all if every five minutes, those two start arguing like a married couple."

"But, they're going to kill each other out there!"

"No they won't, trust me. As much as they seem to be out for each other's heads, they're more alike than they think." Naoya then put a hand to his chin in thought. "I feel like we'd only be in the way if we go out there to watch…what could we do?"

"If you wish to observe their duel, I can create a butterfly to keep near them while you watch from its perspective."

"That… could work… I think," Naoya said. "Sure, let's do it."

"Very well," Philemon said. He snapped his fingers and a small blue butterfly appeared on his shoulder. It flapped its wings before flying past Naoya and Yu towards the door, then it vanished. In front of Naoya and Yu, a large screen materialized from thin air and the area outside of the Velvet Room could be seen.

"Yu, watch carefully and try to take something away from this fight," Naoya instructed. He placed his weapons on the ground besides him before he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"Naoya, what's going on, this isn't like you," Yu said.

"There's a time and place for everything. Right now isn't the opportune moment for me to act like the team's comic relief," Naoya replied.

Outside of the Velvet Room, Tatsuya and Minato had made their way to the center of the city plaza, neither of them choosing to so much as glance at each other the whole way there. When they arrived, the turned to face each other, Tatsuya with a dark scowl and Minato with a cocky grin.

"I'm glad you've finally decided to step up Tatsuya, it was starting to get a bit too boring for around here for my tastes," Minato declared. "But then again, it was only a matter of time, am I right?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tatsuya inquired.

"Mmm, your flesh has been begging no—screaming for me to separate it from your bones. As much as you don't want to admit it, you've been calling out to me Tatsuya, pleading for me to rip you apart limb from limb. I should thank you for giving me the opportunity to bathe in your blood."

"You're psychotic."

"And you're in denial!" Minato yelled at him. "But then again… aren't we all? So come on Tatsuya, swallow your pride and let's kill each other!"

"Tch, I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart far more than I should," Tatsuya said. He held his left sword over his shoulder and his right sword was being held horizontally in front of his body.

"Then that makes two of us," Minato replied. He pulled his sword from its sheath and held it to his side with his right hand.

The air fell silent around them, their gazes were locked onto each other and refused to move elsewhere. The wind howled and the sun was in the middle of the sky, subjecting them to its full heat. It reminded Tatsuya of his youth, where he would find his older brother watching old western films on their crummy television set. Tatsuya remembered his favorite scene was when the two cowboys would meet in the center of town at high noon for a standoff.

This was their standoff, meaning soon would come the…

"They haven't moved yet," Yu pointed out. The suspense was slowly eating away at him. His eyes were glued to the screen, he couldn't stop tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair and he was trembling below the waist. The butterfly that provided them the view was currently hovering above Minato and Tatsuya, never ceasing its movements.

"The stage is set for their collision. They're about to pounce," Naoya murmured.

The butterfly remained in the air for a moment before making its way to the roof of the supermarket, deeming it a proper vantage point to view the fight.

Minato tightened his grip on his sword until his knuckles turned white.

The butterfly approached the roof.

Tatsuya spread his legs apart ever so slightly.

The butterfly began its descent.

A drop of sweat slowly made its way from the top of their faces and fell to the ground.

The butterfly landed.

…DRAW!

"Titan!" Tatsuya yelled as he summoned and crushed a card. His Persona appeared in front of him and launched itself at Minato, picking up dust from its high speed movement.

"Perfect! Let's not waste any more time, Tatsuya!" Minato yelled in response to Tatsuya's action, summoning Orpheus to meet Titan halfway. The two Personas met in the center, sword clashing with lyre. A shockwave was borne from their collision, slightly pushing back both Persona users. Minato covered his face from the dust that was being blown in his direction with his forearm. When he removed it, a large grin was stretching his facial features, his excitement rising with each breath.

Minato hunched down and dashed forward, heading straight for Tatsuya, who tightened his grip on both swords and mimicked Minato. Tatsuya's swords scraped the ground as he and Minato closed the distance between them quickly, ready to strike the other down with their respective weapons. When they met in the center, Tatsuya raised both of his swords above his head and slashed downwards, his attack being met by a horizontal block from Minato. Sparks flew from their swords as they clashed, both fighters gritting their teeth at the pressure being put on by the other.

Slowly, Minato began to gain the upper hand as he started to push Tatsuya back; next to them, Orpheus mimicked Minato's power as Titan was being forced backwards. Minato raised his right leg and slammed it right into Tatsuya's open gut, knocking him off of him feet and onto the ground. Orpheus successfully pushed Titan back and struck his hard with his lyre, destroying the Persona and causing Tatsuya inner pain. Minato seized the opportunity to bounce off of the ground and aim his sword down, ready to deliver a fatal blow to Tatsuya.

"Tch," Tatsuya spat as he rolled to the side. Minato ended up impaling the ground and missing his target. Tatsuya quickly rose to his feet and aimed a sidekick for the side of Minato's head. Minato reeled back to avoid the attack and removed his sword from the ground, quickly pivoting and attempting to deliver a wild horizontal slash to Tatsuya's midsection. Tatsuya ducked the slash and swept Minato off of his feet.

"Orpheus!" Minato shouted, his Persona flying straight for Tatsuya and swinging its lyre at him. Tatsuya clicked his tongue in annoyance and hopped to the right, narrowly avoiding a brutal strike from Orpheus. Tatsuya landed and threw the sword in his right hand directly at Orpheus, who turned and received a sword straight through the face. The Persona vanished and Minato growled in pain. He quickly back flipped and pushed off of the ground, roaring as he ran straight at Tatsuya.

With just one sword, Tatsuya easily parried an upwards slash from Minato and tripped him. As Minato fell down, Tatsuya slammed his knee into his right set of ribs, making Minato spit up in pain. He sent his sword straight down to impale Minato, but he quickly landed on his feet and twisted his body to avoid being stabbed. Instead of the sword impaling Minato, it instead gave him a painful cut on his side, provoking him to deliver a hard uppercut to Tatsuya's chin. Both Persona users stumbled backwards a couple of feet after their scramble to catch their breaths.

"They're completely even," Yu mumbled.

"Of course they are," Naoya remarked. "They're preferred style of fighting is almost one-to-one with each other. This fight has barely even started, and I'm already excited to see just how far they can go before either of them calls it quits."

Meanwhile, Tatsuya and Minato had remained in place, still catching their breaths. When they recovered, they both turned away from each other and went to retrieve their fallen swords. Tatsuya's was stabbed into the ground next to the supermarket while Minato's was lying on the ground a few feet behind him.

"We're only just beginning and yet I'm already having the time of my life," Minato mused. "You even managed to disarm me without much difficulty, Tatsuya." He picked up his sword and sheathed it as he walked towards Tatsuya.

"Your swordsmanship is deplorable," Tatsuya said as he retrieved his sword. "A fighter who could still be considered wet behind the ears could knock your sword from your grasp." He twirled his swords in his hands and made his way to Minato.

"Well then I guess that makes you the spitting image of a samurai." They came face to face, cocky grin one more meeting dark scowl. This time they didn't wait to almost be devoured by suspense, this time they went right into it.

They had moved at the same time, both offensively and defensively. Minato had gone for another uppercut with his left but was blocked by Tatsuya's right sword. Tatsuya himself had slashed down for Minato's right shoulder with his left sword, but Minato's right hand had caught it before it could make impact. Tatsuya kicked Minato off of his feet once more, only for him to catch himself by landing in a handstand and throw a vertical kick to Tatsuya's chin. Tatsuya leaned backwards, narrowly avoiding the kick and retaliating with a scissor slash to Minato's exposed thigh. On pure reaction, Minato twisted his body and lifted both legs in the air so his greaves would catch the blades to stop the attack from going through. Tatsuya grinned at Minato's disadvantageous situation and threw a sloppy kick to his face, one that Minato was forced to catch with his left hand while staying balanced with only his right planted on the ground.

Minato flashed his teeth with a pleased smile as he dropped his legs and landed so that his back was facing Tatsuya while his left hand was still grasping his leg. Tatsuya was taken aback as with seemingly no effort at all, Minato crushed a tarot card with his free hand and chucked Tatsuya forward, sending him flying low to the ground. "Skewer him, Valkyrie!" Minato barked out. His summoned Persona appeared in Tatsuya's path and charged with her lances aimed straight for him.

Tatsuya stabbed his swords into the ground to stop his flight and land on the ground. "Nata Taishi!" He shouted and summoned his Persona. Nata Taishi materialized and grabbed Valkyrie's lances, giving Tatsuya the chance to jump over him and decapitate Valkyrie with a scissor slash to her neck as he landed on the horse's back. He turned around and witnessed Minato stab Nata Taishi in the stomach with his sword and pull it out, the Persona shattering as Minato ran at Tatsuya.

"Let's keep this going!" Minato yelled as Tatsuya hopped off of the fading horse. Minato held his sword loosely to his side as he ran straight for Tatsuya with the increased speed from the Auto-Sukukaja summoning Valkyrie gave him.

"Titan!" Tatsuya summoned the Greek warrior and barked out a hasty 'Kill Rush' as Minato got closer. Titan charged straight for Minato who skidded to a stop and grit his teeth. Titan slammed his right fist down but Minato managed to barely jump out of the way. However, Titan raised his left fist and swung it into Minato's side, hard.

Minato howled in pain as he was sent flying through the side wall of the supermarket from the intensity of the blow. Not hesitating, Tatsuya ran towards the hole Minato made, Titan vanishing behind him.

Tatsuya stood in the hole in the wall and looked around the supermarket. Everything looked more or less the same… well, save the hole Minato made. He stepped forward and walked around for a bit, his beady eyes keeping tabs on his sides every other second. He had turned down the remains of an aisle when he noticed Pharos waving at him at the end.

"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said he was behind you," Pharos said innocently.

"No," Tatsuya shot him down.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Pharos admitted as he vanished. The smoke he left behind made its way out of Tatsuya's sight.

' _He just gave away his position… idiot,'_ Tatsuya thought to himself as he slowly made his way down the aisle. He had taken less than ten steps when he heard the sound of a tarot card being crushed to his left. He quickly reacted and raised his guard right before Orpheus came crashing through the shelves and grabbing Tatsuya by his torso. Minato walked through the wreckage that Orpheus created and leaned against his Persona casually. There was blood coming from his hair and falling down to cover the center of his face. His left sleeve was torn off just above his elbow and his slacks were littered with dirt and holes.

"I'll admit that you caught me off guard back there Tatsuya," Minato said as he shrugged his shoulders. "However, I do believe this is the part where I gain the massive advantage."

"What the hell are you on ab-" Tatsuya didn't get the chance to finish as Minato motioned for Orpheus to launch Tatsuya through the ceiling.

"Orpheus, if you will," Minato requested as he let Orpheus grab him and throw him through the hole in the ceiling that Tatsuya made.

Tatsuya's face was scrunched up from the impact, his back taking the blunt of the collision. When he focused his vision, he saw Minato ascending at an alarming speed. He raised his guard in anticipation, but Minato was ruthless with his assault. Each blow Minato delivered was easily countered by a flawless guard on Tatsuya's part, eliciting an impressed smile from Minato. When Tatsuya tried to counter with a cross slash, Minato seized his opportunity to curl into a ball and flip kick Tatsuya in his side with all of his might, simultaneously summoning a Persona as Tatsuya fell to the Earth below.

Before Tatsuya could hit the ground, Valkyrie appeared and tackled him with her horse, sending him soaring into the side of a tall, ten story building. Minato descended slowly and landed gracefully on the roof of the supermarket. He rolled his shoulders and gripped the top of his head in slight pain.

' _Tatsuya's far stronger than I had originally believed,'_ Minato pondered. _'Maybe it's time for me to use_ _ **it**_ _.'_

' _Are you sure? I don't recall you ever mastering it,'_ Pharos chimed in.

' _Hmm, that's true. We'll see how things play out.'_ Minato hopped off of the supermarket roof and made his way to the building Tatsuya crashed into.

Tatsuya rubbed his aching head, sitting up after being sent flying through a brick wall. He looked in front of him and saw the path of destruction his body had created from the collision. Desks and chairs had been destroyed and blown across multiple parts of the room and a trail of dirt and gravel could be followed from Tatsuya all the way back to the hole in the building's wall.

' _Tch, that one actually hurt. He'll suffer for that.'_

' _ **Such malicious intent, Tatsuya Suou. I can only imagine where it originates from.'**_

Tatsuya's breath hitched up and he searched around for the source of the voice. "Who said that!?" He yelled out. He searched around the room with beady eyes and held his swords by his side. The pain in his head came back with a vengeance, almost making him fall to one knee before it vanished once again. "Ngh, what the hell?" When nobody replied, Tatsuya turned back to the hole in the wall and remembered he was in the middle of a fight.

And so he prepared himself.

When Minato walked through the giant hole, he had to sidestep three balls of fire that were sent his way. He summoned Anzu and had the Persona generate a Garu at the source only for the winds to be dissipated by Vulcanus. When the Persona had vanished, Tatsuya did not appear in Minato's sights. He slowly stalked forward and drew his sword in anticipation of a sneak attack.

Behind him, the blue butterfly fluttered into the building and found a proper place to sit on a damaged shelf against the wall near the front door.

' _Hiding in the shadows, eh?'_ Minato thought as he made his way around the lobby. Light from the human sized hole seeped through, giving Minato a viable source of light to see his surroundings clearly. Despite being able to see properly, he still had yet to find Tatsuya. _'He has to be on this floor in order for Vulcanus to have dissipated my Garu from earlier.'_

Minato was pulled from his thoughts when he heard something hit the wall to his right. Minato turned and made his way towards the source in a cautious manner. He was a few steps away when he stopped and smirked.

"If you think I'm stupid enough to fall for an age-old trick like this…" Minato spun on his heel and lifted his sword to guard a downwards swipe from Tatsuya, their blades clashing fiercely from the collision. "You're sorely mistaken." In front of him, Tatsuya's face was covered in dust and scratches from his impact and the shoulder pads of his suit was torn.

Tatsuya gained the advantage and began to push Minato to his knees, the younger male trying his hardest to push back. Minato grit his teeth and performed a sweep kick but Tatsuya hopped over it and slammed his foot into Minato's chin, knocking him off of his feet and sending him into a tumble. When Minato recovered, he saw Tatsuya throw one of his swords straight for his head and caught it at the last second, the tip of the blade merely centimeters away from Minato's forehead. Minato grit his teeth and tossed it to the side, rising to his feet and rushing at Tatsuya. He summoned Anzu and barked out a rushed 'Garu' as he closed the distance. Tatsuya placed both hands on his sword and got in a defensive stance as Minato jumped at him. Minato twisted his body in the air and aimed a reverse spin kick for Tatsuya's head, but he quickly leaned back and grabbed Minato's leg.

"Idiot," Tatsuya blurted out as he slammed Minato into the ground behind him. Tatsuya heard a powerful wind howling from behind and quickly turned to dispel it with his blades. Minato let out a low growl and pushed himself back on his feet. He tried for a low swipe, but the attack was parried by Tatsuya without much effort on his part. He crushed a tarot card and summoned Vulcanus to ignite his swords. Minato stabbed at Tatsuya, but he dodged to the side and slashed down at the blade with enough force to completely shatter it, leaving Minato in utter shock.

' _M-my… sword.'_ Minato hopped back and tossed away the remains. He began to sweat from the intense heat and his throat was starting to feel dry. His breathing quickened and his eyes jumped from Tatsuya, to his flaming swords, and then back to Tatsuya.

' _Shit… Anzu's weakness. Dammit, I have to switch.'_ Minato quickly opened his palm but Tatsuya slammed the hilt of his sword into Minato's chest, then he grabbed Minato by the collar and slammed him back onto the ground. Minato growled in irritation and swept Tatsuya while on the ground before flipping back onto his feet once more. Tatsuya hit the ground and rolled away from an axe kick aimed for his back, summoning Vulcanus once more to charge at Minato.

"That's not gonna work!" Minato yelled as he ducked out of the way. Behind him, Vulcanus turned around and fired off an Agi that hit Minato clean in the back, making him yell loudly in pain. Tatsuya rose up and tackled Minato to the ground. Minato quickly shoved Tatsuya off of him, and through the horrid burning sensation, switched to Orpheus to nullify the fire. "Too close for comfort," he mumbled as the flames began to die out.

Tatsuya roared as he dashed at Minato with both swords scraping the ground at his sides. Minato got into his preferred stance and prepared for Tatsuya's incoming attack. Tatsuya slashed upwards with his left sword but Minato sidestepped it easily. Then Tatsuya tried for a horizontal slice with his right sword only for Minato to barely duck it. Minato fought back with a flurry of quick jabs, but Tatsuya blocked each of them and slammed his foot into Minato's right side, sending him into an adjacent hall. Minato hit the wall and winced at the immense pain from the blow.

Minato landed on a knee and coughed up a bit of blood, the damage was beginning to pile saw Tatsuya rushing at him once again and readied himself. This time, instead of just sidestepping, Minato leapt to the left and landed in a roll, quickly rising and putting up his guard. Tatsuya stepped in and aimed a thrust kick with broke through Minato's guard, sending him rolling down the hall. He twirled his swords in his hands and ran at the recovering Minato.

Minato quickly got back up and met Tatsuya halfway, dodging a sloppy cross slash and retaliating with a hard chin buster blow that knocked Tatsuya off of his feet. Acting quickly, Minato bounded to the side and jumped off of a nearby wall so that he was positioned directly above Tatsuya's airborne body. As he descended, Minato stuck out his elbow and slammed it into Tatsuya's exposed gut, eliciting a pained scream from him as he dropped down to the floor, crashing back first. Minato performed a front flip in the air and dropped down feet first, hoping to land directly onto Tatsuya's open ribs.

"Dammit!" Tatsuya yelled as he flipped back and barely avoided Minato hit the ground. When he recovered he ran at Minato and hit him hard with a powerful head butt. Minato screamed in pain as blood shot out from his mouth and he stumbled backwards. Tatsuya's rage was rising with each breath he took. He looked at Minato cover his mouth in anguish and for a split second, something appeared from behind him, flickering in and out of existence before the pain shot through his head once more, this time being almost far more than he can handle.

' _ **I can feel it within you Tatsuya. Your anger, your killing intent. Come, let it be the driving force behind your strikes.'**_ Tatsuya grabbed his head with both hands and dropped down to both knees as he screamed in pure agony. That voice was all too familiar, but it was impossible.

It couldn't be.

' _The hell?,'_ Minato spoke inwardly. He got into a defensive stance as he watched Tatsuya with narrowed eyes.

"Get out of my head… Get out of my head!" Tatsuya yelled as he pounded the ground in a combination of anguish and anger. The aching in his head slowly dissipated and with uneven breaths, Tatsuya rose once more.

"Get it together, Suou. This won't be fun if you're not all there," Minato mocked him from a distance.

' _ **Yes Tatsuya. You need to keep your wits about you with this one… or should I say, WE need to keep OUR wits about US.'**_ Next to Minato, a man flickered into existence. His appearance was the spitting image of Tatsuya's own, the only thing differentiating them were the color of their eyes. Where Tatsuya's eyes were a bland complexion of brown, the Tatsuya standing next to Minato had a pair of bright red eyes.

Tatsuya's eyes widened as he took a step back, earning a look of utter confusion from Minato; The Tatsuya next to Minato had an eerie grin as he vanished in a wisp of black smoke, with the real Tatsuya knowing full well who that was.

' _You can't still be alive… I already defeated you.'_

' _ **Tatsuya, your simplistic thoughts are unbecoming of the both of us. Do you not recall what I said to you that time? As your shadow, I'll always be there. You're brooding for two now!'**_

"I've run out of patience," Minato said as he rushed at Tatsuya. He raised his left arm and threw a quick jab, one that was dodged by Tatsuya stepping to the side. Minato tossed out a bullet speed uppercut, which Tatsuya blocked by lifting both of his swords. Tatsuya retaliated by pushing Minato back and aiming a high kick for his neck, but Minato smacked his leg away and gave Tatsuya a hard body blow. Tatsuya felt his gut wrench and he stepped back slightly to recover.

' _ **You could've easily countered that strike. What's the matter, Tatsuya? Do you have something on your mind?'**_ Shadow Tatsuya teased as Tatsuya readied himself.

' _Shut up,'_ Tatsuya replied. He ran at Minato and let loose a flurry of quick swipes and slashes, most of them being parried by Minato's quick reflexes while others managed to successfully cut him. Some cut his shoulders, others cut his sides and legs, while one managed to graze Minato's cheek, making some blood drip from his face. Minato jumped back, but Tatsuya pressed on, taking advantage of Minato's poor defense to trip him and kick him away as he fell.

' _ **Now that's more like it.'**_

' _I told you to shut up!'_

' _ **I'm hurt that you think so lowly of me Tatsuya… so lowly of us. I see no reason why, when you have much darker things looming around in this… vessel.'**_

Tatsuya growled deep in his throat as he tried to ignore his inner self. But the white pain that shot through his head yet again said otherwise. _**'You wish for him to suffer and I can make it happen. Let me lend you my power, Tatsuya. We can make him scream, it's what you want is it not?'**_

"Shut up!" Tatsuya writhed in pain as his Shadow spoke to him from the depths of his subconscious.

"What the hell's going on with Tatsuya?" Yu asked as he shot up from his seat. He looked to Naoya desperately for answers but received only a blank stare. Yu grit his teeth in irritation before sitting back down.

' _If I had the answer to that question, Yu… I wouldn't be sitting here.'_

"Tatsuya!" Minato called out, making Tatsuya look to him with half-lidded eyes. Floating above Minato's open palm was a tarot card containing Orpheus on one side and the Fool Arcana on the other as it spun around rapidly. "I don't understand what's going on with you and quite frankly… I don't really care! Just know this: from here on out, you'll be experiencing the full magnitude of my power first hand!" He crushed the tarot card, enveloping his entire body in white light. The ground rumbled as Minato hunched forward while crossing his arms in front of his face and closing his eyes.

' _Now here's where things get tricky,'_ Minato thought to himself.

' _Just focus on the depths of your soul and channel that energy outward,'_ Pharos guided.

' _Right… easier said than done. If I mess up, I could be ripped apart from within.'_ Minato balled his hands into fists and scrunched up his face as he concentrated on his inner power.

Tatsuya tried to attack Minato as he powered up only to realize that he couldn't move his legs. "W-what the...? What's going on!?" Each time he mentally ordered his legs to move felt like it was its own hard fought battle.

' _ **Ho? It appears our body-'**_

' _MY body!'_

' _ **Our body is responding to the innermost desires within your mind. It wants to see this new power the boy is going to show us.'**_

' _For the final time… Shut up! I've had eno-'_ Tatsuya was ripped out of his thoughts when he heard an ear piercing scream from Minato. He was keeled over and pulling on his hair with both hands as he screamed at the top of his lungs in anguish. A vortex of white light swirled viciously around him as his arms moved from his hair to his temples.

"Gah! S-Stop it! AHH!" He screamed as he began to pound his fist into the ground with enough force to crack and splinter the floor. His eyes were white and his surroundings were different from just a moment ago.

 _He was kneeling down in a bright laboratory room… His body jolted in agony as he was shocked repeatedly with… God knows what. He was injected with something big simultaneously and his body ached as multiple bruises pulsed to life all over him._

 _The pain was excruciating… something that would scar him for life._

" _M-mom…D-dad… somebody please… help me… help us," he pleaded as he was shocked again. He seized up for a moment before falling still, his breathing barely audible. When he opened his eyes, he saw a hand being extended towards him. As he reached out to it… he heard a voice call out to him._

 _Fo-us…_

 _Cus…_

 _Focus!_

When Minato came to, he was back in the hall with Tatsuya standing a few feet away from him. He eased himself back on his feet and assumed his previous stance. _'Pharos… thank you.'_ Minato shut his eyes and concentrated once more, throwing… whatever just happened, to the back of his head. He felt his power rise from the pits of his stomach and settle deep in his chest, ready to burst forth.

' _You're almost there… now release it!'_

' _ **Here it comes. I'm eager to see what it may be… and by extension, I'm sure you are too, Tatsuya!'**_ Shadow Tatsuya yelled from within Tatsuya's mind. Tatsuya chose not to respond, only gripping his swords tighter than ever.

"Now… let the real fight begin," Minato murmured as the immediate area around him exploded with light, forcing Tatsuya to steady himself lest he be knocked off of his feet. When Tatsuya looked at where Minato was, his breath hitched in his throat.

Minato was still there, but his appearance had changed drastically. His hair, normally blue was now pure white and looked longer by an even two inches. His skin was now a fair onyx and his pupils and irises were gone, leaving a bright crimson red light shining in his eyes. Wrapped around his neck was an ethereal, red scarf which had a strap that Minato wore around the top of his hair. His shirt was an olive green and his arms and pants were now covered in a silk white cloth. A miniature, silver lyre was strapped to his back, replacing the sheath for his sword.

Minato straightened up from his stance and observed his new appearance. "I've done it," he said as he opened and closed his hands repeatedly. He threw a few kicks and punches at the air in front of him and laughed to himself. "A bit of a stumble back there, but I succeeded nonetheless!"

' _What the hell is this?'_ Tatsuya mentally questioned.

"What the hell is this?" Yu asked.

"It would appear that Minato's got some tricks up his sleeve as well," Naoya mused. He put a hand to his chin and leaned back in his chair. He turned to Elizabeth who was looking at the screen with an impressed grin. _'I don't think I'd be incorrect assuming that she knows something about this new form. I'll find something out sooner or later.'_

' _ **The boy does not fail to impress. This just got all the more interesting.'**_ Tatsuya harrumphed at his shadow's growing excitement. _**'Tatsuya, allow me to give you my power for the remainder of this fight.'**_

' _You don't know when to shut up.'_

"Well now, Tatsuya. I wish to test this new form, and you look like the perfect crash test dummy for me to try it on. What do you say? Care to throw your life away for my benefits?" Minato teased from afar, motioning for Tatsuya to come at him.

"Power up as much as you want… it won't be enough to beat me!" At that, Tatsuya rushed in again while Minato remained still. Tatsuya closed the space between them and slashed upwards at Minato, who leaned back and smiled. Tatsuya grit his teeth, jumped and spun around and slammed his foot onto Minato's clavicle, who only remained smiling. Gasping in shock, Tatsuya pushed off of Minato and landed in front of him. He quickly ran behind him and attempted a decapitating slash, but it failed when Minato blocked it with the back of his forearm. Minato quickly turned around and slammed his fist into Tatsuya's chin, knocking him in the air yet again before he slammed a heavy haymaker into his exposed chest, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Tatsuya crashed into a back wall and gasped for air before falling to his knees. He looked up and saw Minato coolly walking towards him, his shit-eating grin still stuck on his face. Tatsuya growled in anger and summoned Vulcanus to fire a barrage of Agis at him as he got closer. Vulcanus did so the moment he appeared and hit Minato with everything he had, creating a large cloud of smoke that covered Minato.

"Be honest with me Tatsuya… when have you ever seen that work?" Minato asked as he stepped through the large smoke cloud, unscathed by Vulcanus' assault. Tatsuya was speechless as Minato continued to casually make his way towards him, backhanding Vulcanus out of existence without much effort.

' _ **You're trembling with fear and it's unsightly. Turn those trembles of fear into trembles of excitement at the prospect of a new, powerful foe!'**_ For once, Tatsuya listened to his other half and stopped the shaking in his legs, running for Minato yet again.

Minato laughed when Tatsuya got close to him. He raised his hand in front of Tatsuya's face, making him instinctively halt his movement. He winked at Tatsuya as he positioned his fingers in front of Tatsuya's forehead and flicked him with enough force to knock him backwards back into the wall. Not letting up, Minato hopped in front of Tatsuya and grabbed him by the shin, pulling him from the wall and slamming him into the ground multiple times before throwing him through the ceiling in a diagonal angle.

Tatsuya ascended a total of five floors before his back slammed into the sixth floor ceiling and he dropped on to the edge of a dirty desk and rolled over onto the floor. He felt blood trickle down from the back of his head and his entire body ached from the multiple impacts… his right shoulder was popped out of place again.

' _ **I would say I admire your bravado but I would be lying to myself. My offer still stands, Tatsuya.'**_

"…N-no… I w-wont," Tatsuya managed to get out before slowly rising to his feet. His right arm ached and he grabbed it instinctively.

"Ooh… that looks like it hurts like hell, Tatsuya," Minato said as he rose from the part of the floor Tatsuya had burst through.

Tatsuya growled in anger and grabbed his sword with good hand, running at Minato with the remainder of him power. Snorting in amusement, Minato smacked the sword out of his hand and crashed into Tatsuya with a clothesline, choking and knocking him off his feet. Tatsuya hit the ground and gasped for air, rolling around in pain before he rose back up.

"Poor thing... an arm like that won't help you one bit. You need help old friend?" Minato asked with ill intentions.

"I-I'm not your fr-friend."

"Well sure you are… friends don't let other friends stand around with an out of place shoulder," Minato replied. He closed the distance between them in an instant and smashed Tatsuya's shoulder back into place with a vicious left hook. Tatsuya wailed in pain and fell to his knees, his heart was pounding unbearably fast in his chest and he began to feel the cold, caring hands of unconsciousness creep up on the corners of his psyche.

' _ **Tatsuya, Tatsuya, Tatsuya… you are a warrior through and through. You shouldn't be ready to pass out... not by a long shot.'**_ Tatsuya heard sick cackling in his mind, slowly pushing him to the edge of insanity.

Minato grabbed Tatsuya by the hair and lifted him back on his feet without any remorse. "What's the matter Tatsuya? We're not done yet, not even close!" Minato hit him with a hard punch to the jaw. "Why do you look as if you've conceded?" A rage filled punch to his left set of ribs. "Not until I hear you screaming for mercy!" A flurry of punches and kicks to the body.

' _ **My power Tatsuya… you need it.'**_

Minato twirled on his right foot and slammed his left into Tatsuya, knocking him through a set of walls before he hit the ground in a roll. When he got up, he vomited up blood and stared back at where he was originally at stupidly. _'N-no… I… won't use it.'_ He saw Minato run at him at full speed, laughing sadistically as he ran up and grabbed Tatsuya by the head, lifting him tossing him against another wall. Tatsuya hit his back against it and bounced off, unable to stop Minato from smashing his elbow into his gut. Channeling his strength into his fists, Minato punched Tatsuya clean through the wall, running through and beginning a vicious assault on his body. Tatsuya screamed as his body ached with each strike that connected with ease. Minato's laugh bounced off of the walls that he pounded the helpless Tatsuya through, he was filled with glee at the torment he was subjecting Tatsuya to, something that he didn't want to stop. With a final roar, he kicked Tatsuya hard in the chest, knocking him through the final wall and sending him over the outside of the building. Thinking quickly, Minato grabbed Tatsuya by the leg, pulled him back in and threw him down on the floor.

Tatsuya's eyes were barely open as Minato towered above him, his smile turning into a frown at Tatsuya's inability to fight back now. He picked Tatsuya up and punched the floor with all of his might, cracking the floor easily. Minato grunted before igniting his fist and shooting a large Agi from it, leaving a hole that lead all the way down to the first floor. He gave Tatsuya a sidelong look before dropping him through the hole, watching as he crashed down on the first floor.

With a snort, Minato dropped down to the first floor, his speed increasing exponentially as he neared the bottom. Tatsuya cracked one of his eyes open and saw Minato descending feet first from the holes located directly above him.

* * *

Yu looked away the same moment Tatsuya screamed in agony. He shut his eyes, but rose from his seat in anger. "That's it! I'm stopping this fight!"

Naoya grabbed his hand. "Don't even think about going through that door," he warned Yu.

"Or else what!?"

"Or else… I'll stop you… by force."

That had spurred a number of unknown emotions within Yu for a brief instance. He shook free of Naoya's grasp and ran towards the entrance. He was nearly there when he stopped and drew his sword to guard a surprise attack.

"What are you doing?" Yu asked angrily at Naoya, who was currently holding onto his own sword.

"I warned you didn't I?" He merely replied. "Don't interfere, Yu. This is your final warning."

Yu grit his teeth and turned around to make for the door when Naoya appeared in front of him and performed a reverse spin kick, one that Yu blocked with his sword despite being pushed back from the force. "Naoya!"

"Forgive me for this Yu… but I'm going to need you to go to sleep for a bit," Naoya muttered while he gave Yu a blank stare.

"Look, I don't know what's wrong with Tatsuya but I need to stop Minato before it's too late! Even if that means going through you!" At that, he steeled his resolve and charged at Naoya.

* * *

Minato stepped off of Tatsuya's broken body and observed his work. It wasn't long until Tatsuya managed to rise once more.

"I-I'll… beat…y-you," he rasped weakly.

"The flinch in your eye calls your bluff," Minato said as he stepped forward. Tatsuya's vision was fixed on Minato as he felt his fist smash into his ribs. "Feel free to die when you've had enough," he continued, grabbing Tatsuya's head and slamming it into his own. "Useless cause is breaking your back," he picked Tatsuya and dropped him on his back… directly on top of Minato's knee. He let Tatsuya roll off of him, he hadn't broken his back… but he was damn sure he'd feel that later. "Your life will end when you attack."

Tatsuya lay motionless on the ground, save for the occasional twitching of his fingers as he tried to ball his hand into a fist.

"Make your move," Minato raised his foot up and slammed it down onto Tatsuya's chest. "Make your stand," he did it again. "Make the win," again and again. "Ha… like you can," he kicked Tatsuya in the side and watch him roll along the ground pitifully.

"Tch, looks like you couldn't handle my might," Minato mused. "As fun as killing you sounds; I think letting you live with the embarrassment of defeat slowly eating away at your mind." He saw Tatsuya's eyes finally shut as he fell unconscious. He harrumphed in disgust before turning around and walking away, his scarf billowing around his neck.

When Tatsuya opened his eyes once again, he was floating in a black abyss instead of lying in a crumpled heap by Minato's feet.

' _ **It appears that you've failed once again. How many times does that make this, Tatsuya?'**_ His shadow appeared in front of him with a cheesy grin. Tatsuya chose not to respond. _**'There was the masked circle… the events on the other side… I'm sure there are far more than that… but my memory betrays me.'**_ Tatsuya still chose not to respond. _**'We can still win, just let me take the reins for a moment.'**_ Shadow Tatsuya extended his open hand to Tatsuya and gave him a genuine smile. _**'We can make him suffer… we can make him pay!'**_ Tatsuya looked at his shadow's open hand and considered his options for the first time. Seemingly out of options, he extended his hand out and clasped it with his shadow's own. _**'Good, Tatsuya… come, let's make him beg for the sweet embrace of Death!'**_

As Minato was walking away, he heard an explosion behind him and felt a powerful gust of wind try to blow him away.

He couldn't fight the smile that crept on his face.

When he turned around, he was greeted by a torrent of black and red energy spiraling around Tatsuya's rising form.

"Hmm? This is new," Minato mused. The dark energy exploded, leaving only Tatsuya in its place as power literally oozed off of him. When he raised his chin to observe Minato, his eyes pupils flashed with a dark red light and his mouth formed a dreadful smile.

"New… yes. Or rather… the same… but different," Shadow Tatsuya said.

Minato sniffed at the air and scowled. "You're smell is putrid. You're not Tatsuya, are you?"

Shadow Tatsuya laughed at Minato's assumption. "I am not… yet at the same time… I am!"

"A shadow then?"

"Right on the mark! You're smarter than you look," Shadow Tatsuya discreetly mocked Minato, earning the younger male's instant enmity.

"You wanna say that again?" Minato threatened. Shadow Tatsuya laughed at Minato again.

"Consider that nerve touched, boy!" He raised his hands above his head and both of Tatsuya's swords came flying into them.

Minato snorted. _'So what, he knows the force now?'_

Shadow Tatsuya twirled his swords in his hands before positioning them at his sides. "Now then, let's begin round three."

"Yes… let's." Minato agreed. _'As much as I hate to admit it… I partially feel bad about pointing out Tatsuya's dark habits. With something like this swimming around within his psyche the entire time… I wonder how much I contributed to its appearance. Nevertheless, I've got new prey in my sights.'_

' _ **Take notes Tatsuya. Allow me to show you how to skin a sheep.'**_

The area around them fell silent as they became painfully still, sizing each other up for the briefest of moments. Suddenly, without warning, they bounded at each other.

* * *

 **Woo-hoo! Another chapter finished.**

 **Cliffhanger achieved?**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Team Bonding. II – Clash of the Titans Part 2**

 **-Reviews**

 **Mocasiotorres27: Let's look at things from an algebraic point of view, shall we? Two positives will make a positive (as Yu and Naoya have been demonstrating up until now), but two negatives don't exactly yield the same results. That is unless, there are changes to the equation...**

 **EternalCombOver: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Gotta keep it rated T for the kiddies… *writes down ideas in notepad*. I actually took some inspiration from Dragon Ball Z, if you can guess the fight then holy shit dude, you deserve massive props. I'm glad to see you found his power-up interesting, and I haven't even scratched the surface. However, with how early we are in this story… it's best to consider that a Kaioken at best… minus the red aura and butthurt Vegeta.**

 **I don't see what was so funny, he just helped Tatsuya swallow his pride… with his hate…**

 **Thanks again and… welcome to Round Three!**

 **Rittie: Calm? There will be no calm in this story… unless it's sprinkled in every now and then to provide a false sense of security, but I've said too much.**

 **Hehehe, Bread will be Burnt to make some Thanatoast.**

 **To have a follower of a fic that's not even in existence yet… I impress myself sometimes. But thank you nonetheless.**

 **Mehh: Only kinda? Eh, works for me I guess.**

 **NollyLvn: If a cliffhanger was anticipated, then it's a good thing that I had it then right? Since you're not a fan of extreme violence, then you might not like me saying that there'll be quite a bit of it in this story… but you've been reading up until now, so I guess I'm doin' something right.**

 **I'm starting to see what you're saying. I guess this means that I still have some ways to go on alternating the focus and giving the characters something to do during large scale battles.**

 **And your reviews are always worth something, as they're helping me to provide readers like you the best story I can offer!**

 **Extraneous: Important author's note at the end so uh… stay tuned for that.**

 **Meanwhile, back to the moody tsunde—err, uhh, raging fighters… Hehehe.**

 **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

The distance between Minato and Shadow Tatsuya vanished in an instant as both fighters closed in on each other. Minato grit his teeth and threw a strong punch for Shadow Tatsuya's face, only for him to vanish right before his eyes.

"What?" Minato blurted out as he skidded to a stop. When he turned around, he was greeted by a hard elbow to the face, followed by a quick leg sweep. Falling on his back, Minato caught sight of Tatsuya's swords descending on him and he quickly caught both of them in his hands before any major damage could be done. He gritted his teeth and pushed against the swords, taking note of them being mere centimeters away from his skin. He held his breath as his hands were enveloped in a dull orange light that made its way to the swords and covered Shadow Tatsuya's body. In moments, the force being applied to the swords withered away and Minato gained the upper hand, releasing his grip on the swords and rolling to the side. When he looked back, he was shocked to see how deep they were imbedded into the ground.

' _If that's how strong he is while weakened by a Tarunda…'_ he thought as he rose to his feet.

"Looks like I missed," Shadow Tatsuya murmured as he easily removed his swords from the ground. "Weakening me by contact via my swords… I'll admit you're a fast thinker, boy. Dismembering you will be FAR more fun than initially anticipated."

"Tch… save your voice you damn Shadow. You're going to need it for your screams of despair," Minato declared.

"Destroying your confidence along with your body will be delicious." Shadow Tatsuya smiled at Minato before vanishing once again. Minato steeled himself and then turned around without a hint of hesitation, raising his left arm to guard a horizontal slash from both of Tatsuya's swords. "Hmm, I wonder if I would experience the same frisson if I went after the other two."

"I'll let you know how that feels," Minato thrusted his right fist towards Shadow Tatsuya, who turned his body so his upper back would take the blow instead of his face. The attack had pushed him off of Minato and made him bounce off of a wall, where Minato then grabbed him by the back of the head and tossed him to the ceiling. Shadow Tatsuya twisted in the air and planted his feet on the ceiling before vanishing once again.

' _If we weren't beating each other within an inch of our lives, I'd comment on how impressed I am that he knows instant transmission.'_ He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard something shatter and a torrent of flames shot up in front of him. From the flames, Vulcanus shot out and grabbed Minato's body. The first thing Minato noticed about Vulcanus was how he was now completely covered black and blue as opposed to his usual green and silver for his appendages. Vulcanus squeezed down, eliciting a pained groan from Minato before throwing him through a wall and into an empty elevator shaft.

Minato quickly got up when he heard the rushed footsteps of Shadow Tatsuya as he charged at him, swords aflame and face stretched from his psychotic smile. Minato met his rush with his own and they began to exchange attacks in the center of the shaft, shaking the ground beneath them with the fury from their attacks.

"That's it boy, dance! Entertain me!" Shadow Tatsuya slashed wildly at Minato, who continued to dodge and parry the swords while throwing punches and kicks of his own. Minato felt the swords graze and cut him every other slash, but with each slash that landed he returned the favor with a hard punch or kick that grew stronger with each thrust. Shadow Tatsuya thrusted his swords at Minato who sidestepped the attack, only to land on one foot and push off the ground. He flew at Shadow Tatsuya and threw a strong left hook, but Shadow Tatsuya vanished yet again.

"Starting to get slightly aggravating," Minato groused. His eyes shot up when he heard a distinctive shattering sound go off, clicking his tongue when he saw an Agi flying straight at him. He covered his face in a cross guard and took the attack head off, not feeling too much pain due to Orpheus being resistant to fire. When the smoke cleared, the ground suddenly began to rumble and Minato jumped straight up, only for Vulcanus to burst from the ground and grab him by the right leg. Vulcanus slammed Minato into the ground and grabbed his left arm, holding a now vulnerable Minato above his head.

"Fuck!" Minato cursed as he flailed helplessly in Vulcanus' grasp. He halted when he heard loud cackling from high above him. He looked up and gasped as he saw Shadow Tatsuya plummeting down the elevator shaft, both swords aimed at Minato's exposed body.

* * *

Yu jumped to the side, causing Naoya to stab the ground where he previously stood. He looked towards the Velvet Room door, then back at Naoya and summoned Jack Frost. "Mabufu!" He yelled as he turned on his heel and bolted for the door, not bothering to look back.

"Pyro Jack!" Naoya called out, crushing a Tarot Card and summoning the other Jack brother. "Maragi!" Pyro Jack met the incoming barrage of ice shards with smalls balls of fire, nullifying both attacks in the center. Naoya looked to the screen displaying Minato and Tatsuya's fight and whistled when Minato tugged his arm forward, ripping off Vulcanus' as he contorted his body to avoid being stabbed. Naoya cringed when he saw that Minato still got nipped pretty badly in the side though. _'Oh yeah… I'm in the middle of a fight.'_

Yu had finally reached the door and placed his hand on the doorknob. Not wasting any time, he pulled the door open only to be yanked back by Seimen Kongou and thrown back. Flying through the air, he saw Eligor appear besides him, riding his horse with Naoya. Yu raised his sword above him the moment Eligor swung his lance down on Yu, their weapons clashing between them as Yu was slammed into the floor.

"Spin kick," Naoya mumbled, still sitting on Eligor's horse. From the door, Seimen Kongou flew straight for Yu and began to spin rapidly as his right leg started to glow with an orange light. Yu hastily summoned Izanagi as Seimen Kongou closed the distance between them and slammed his foot right into Izanagi's spear. A shockwave was borne from their collision, one that knocked Yu off of his feet and destroyed the horse Naoya was riding on. Naoya landed on the ground and rubbed the back of his head. "That was smart, I'll give him that." He dug a finger in his ear, getting annoyed at the ringing sound that seemed to increase in volume by the second.

Yu got up shakily and grit his teeth. _'Dammit this is annoying. Why won't he let me stop them!?'_ he thought as he turned towards the denizens. "Why won't you say anything!" Philemon had long since vanished for unknown reasons, leaving only Margaret, Elizabeth and Igor in his stead. Margaret looked at Yu with a blank expression while Elizabeth beamed at him, their refusal to answer was eating away at him. He darted his eyes to Igor, who's hands were crossed under his nose, hiding his mouth (though Yu was positive he was smiling as per usual).

"Now, if I were anybody else, I would've taken advantage of you being distracted," Naoya pointed out as he made his way towards Yu. "Besides, shouldn't you be 'trying to stop them' or something?"

"Why are you stopping me from doing that? Things have gotten out of hand, Naoya! Dammit, Tatsuya's shadow has-"

"I know, I know. Yeesh, I can hear just as well as you can, y'know! Look, all that pent up hatred they've got for each other is gonna dissipate if we just let them fight now Yu, trust me."

"And how would you know!?" Yu ran at Naoya with renewed vigor as the older male simply sighed and met Yu's approach.

Naoya sighed and rubbed his forehead. _'I'm too young to be acting like some protective uncle.'_ He noticed Yu getting closer and performed his blinding slash, prompting Yu to skid to a halt and raise his guard. Yu felt his sleeves tear open and his exposed skin get cut by the invisible slashes Naoya had performed.

But at the same time… he caught wind of something. When Naoya's hand got close to the hilt of his sword, he had heard something shatter. Yu stepped back and caught his breath while narrowing his eyes at Naoya, who was motioning for Yu to come at him.

' _I think I've found him out.'_ Yu ran for Naoya and dropped into a slide, gripping his blade as he closed the distance. Naoya reacted to the slide and jumped over Yu, pulling out his gun midair and firing off a few rounds. Yu quickly summoned Jack Frost and yelled out a 'Bufula' to use as a pillar to hide behind against the rain of bullets. He flinched when, despite the pillar of ice taking most of the bullets, one managed to graze his skin. The Bufula behind him shattered and he turned to face Naoya, raising an eyebrow in confusion when his vision began to blur.

"Poison-tipped bullets, how long will you last?" Naoya asked rhetorically. With Jack Frost still floating by him, Yu mumbled a 'Dia' and closed his eyes as he was encompassed in a warm green light. "Do that as much as you want to, the poison is gonna stay with you."

* * *

Minato was rising to his feet when he heard the approaching footsteps of Shadow Tatsuya. _'He caught me off guard right there. That won't happen again.'_ He winced in pain as the large gash in his side burned and his bones ached something fierce. He took note of the small pool of blood that formed on the floor by him, making him wonder how long he was lying there. Igniting his left hand, he took in a sharp breath and placed it on the wound, cauterizing it to stop the bleeding. "The fact that you're actually damaging me while I'm in this form is an achievement in of itself. You should feel proud, then again… I'm not sure if shadows can comprehend such a feeling."

"You've quite the mouth on you. I'll admit that you've been a nice change of pace," Shadow Tatsuya said as he slashed at the air in front of him. They were on the ninth floor, courtesy of a kill rush from Titan that hit Minato while he was dealing with defending against Vulcanus.

"Change of—We're only just beginning." Minato ran at Shadow Tatsuya and faked a low kick, Shadow Tatsuya fell for it and Minato punished him with an uppercut to the chin. Minato smiled at the sound of teeth clattering together from the blow and he grabbed Shadow Tatsuya by the throat, squeezing hard as he heard him gasping for air. Minato let go and unleashed a flurry of punches on his body in the blink of an eye. He launched one more strong punch that connected with Shadow Tatsuya's ribs, sending him clean through a doorway and into the hall.

"I've been wondering. Why is it that when somebody gets a random power boost, their wounds are suddenly healed? I recall breaking a number of Tatsuya's bones earlier, yet here you stand ready for another beat down," Minato mused as he walked towards Shadow Tatsuya's slumped form. He was about to pick him up when Oberon burst through the wall behind Shadow Tatsuya and thrusted his rapier at Minato. His doublet and pants was now black with purple highlights, while his wings were completely red. Minato leaned to the side to avoid the thrust, but was caught with a rising knee from Shadow Tatsuya that led into a strong dropkick.

Minato was sent skidding backwards on his feet from the surprise attack. When he looked back at where Tatsuya's body was, he could only growl in annoyance over the fact that he was once again out of his sight. The floor fell silent for a brief moment as Minato darted his eyes from left to right, anticipating an attack from Shadow Tatsuya. Something moved in the corner of his right eye and he spun on his heel, conjuring up a small flame and tossing it towards the source. The fireball hit a chair that had fallen over and burnt it to a crisp in a matter of seconds.

'… _There!'_ Minato instinctively ducked a scissor slash from Shadow Tatsuya and with his momentum, retaliated with a quick windmill kick. Shadow Tatsuya leaned back and felt the breeze from Minato's heel blow past him, prompting him to hop back a few steps. Minato pivoted and rushed at Shadow Tatsuya. He brought his fists up and let loose a barrage of vicious attacks that tested Shadow Tatsuya's agility with their superhuman speed.

' _ **This child… is actually pushing me back!'**_ Shadow Tatsuya thought as he continued to dodge Minato's relentless assault.

"Keh, how's this for a change of pace?" Minato said as he stepped into Shadow Tatsuya's guard and pulled back his right fist. His white hair billowed and the ground beneath him pulsated as he ignited his fist. He crouched down low and flashed his teeth in an angry snarl as he tightened the muscles in his hand. He launched his fist forward at blinding speeds and it crashed into Shadow Tatsuya's chest with a resounding bang. Neither of them moved for a while, filling the floor with a pregnant silence.

Suddenly, Shadow Tatsuya felt the wind within him burst out of his back and a shockwave exploded was borne from the powerful strike. Shadow Tatsuya was blown back at breakneck speeds and ended up flying clean through a large window and out of the building. Minato ran to the window and shook his hand off as he watched Shadow Tatsuya plummet to the ground below.

' _ **Hehehe, I see now why you fell to him Tatsuya. This boy…'**_ Shadow Tatsuya crushed a Tarot card and was caught by Vulcanus before he could end up as a stain on the ground. Vulcanus reeled back and launched Shadow Tatsuya through a window on the fifth floor before flying after him.

' _I should've seen that coming.'_ Minato thought to himself before the floor behind him exploded. When he turned around, he raised his eyebrow at the large torrent of fire that emerged from the large hole. The flames dissipated and in its place was Shadow Tatsuya standing on Vulcanus with one leg on his shoulder and the other on his head.

' _ **This boy deserves the full extent of our power!'**_

"I'm sure you felt that one," Minato mused as he cracked his knuckles. "Cause I sure as hell did."

"That one actually hurt me," Shadow Tatsuya admitted. "In fact, I recommend that you continue to use that strength if you wish to survive."

* * *

When Tatsuya came to, he found himself lying in a puddle of blood. The world around him was silent and yet is was deafening as he stood up. He felt his head pulse violently from a brutal headache and his body ached from… from…?

' _W-what happened?'_ Slowly, the memories came flooding back as his headache worsened and he clutched his head in pain. His legs threatened to give out from under him but he managed to remain standing. He took staggered steps back as his headache increased and then his right arm began to pulsate. Finally, he dropped to one knee from the sheer agony he was going through and began to vomit. The headache and pain in his right arm both vanished at the same time, leaving Tatsuya in confusion as to what the hell was going on with him.

He slowly got back up and observed his surroundings… or lack thereof.

He stood in a silent black abyss, with the only inhabitants being him and the puddle of blood he woke up in. Taking in a deep breath, he chose to venture into the unknown.

* * *

"Yow!" Naoya hopped around comically as he tried to quell the flames that was burning his ass, courtesy of Yu's Berith. He stopped and patted his ass furiously until the flames died out, they had burned clean through his pants and exposed his underwear. He frowned and turned to Yu, who returned Naoya's gaze with his own fierce one.

"Mudo," he murmured, prompting Berith to tap his trident on the floor besides his horse. Naoya saw the purple sigils form in front of him and leaped back just before the instant kill could activate on him. He landed on his feet and pushed off towards Yu, who promptly switched to Omoikane and barked out a 'Sukunda'. Naoya drew his blade and slashed at Yu at his regular blinding speeds.

Or so he thought.

Yu grinned as he gripped his sword and slashed at the air in front of him, feeling his hair blow from the wind that passed him. Naoya skidded to a halt and quirked his eyebrows.

"So I was right then," Yu said. "It's technically not your sword that's cutting me."

Naoya gave him a large grin of approval before clapping his hands. "So you've figured out my magic trick then, eh?"

"You're making Seimen Kongou generate a blade of wind and using the motions of your wrist to create the illusion that you've unsheathed your sword, when really, you didn't touch it at all," Yu smiled at Naoya before continuing. "So in all actuality, you're hitting the opponent with a sharp blade of wind – and since it's wind, it breaks apart into smaller, razor blades that are still potent enough to get the job done."

Naoya didn't stop smiling at Yu. "That Sukunda I hit you with slowed down your movements to the point where your casting was visible to the naked eye, so in the end, despite attacking the opponent with wind as opposed to your sword – which would've been pretty cool – the motions you go through to do that is still hard to perceive and therefore infinitely impressive."

"Bingo! I guess since you've learned the machinations of my technique, that makes it ineffective," Naoya laughed to himself, throwing Yu in a loop. To be laughing over the fact that Yu figured out his trick isn't what he should be doing.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Oh? Because, I'm glad Yu," Naoya said. "I'm glad I can finally use my next attack on somebody, and who better than Yu Narukami himself?"

At this, Yu's breath hitched in his throat. "N-next… attack?" Naoya nodded happily at Yu before frowning and letting out a sigh.

"Oh that's right, I'm still slowed down from your Sukunda… ah well, I guess I just have to hold out until it expires. Until then, I guess I'll continue playing gatekeeper. Y'know, you _should_ be taking advantage of my lack of speed and get out of here before I can stop you."

Yu was taken aback. "Are you giving me advice that'll work against you?"

"Am I?" Naoya winked at him. "You interrupted my show and for that, you need to make it up to me by making this as fun as possible."

' _I guess I'm just surrounded by sadists.'_ Yu groaned in irritation and steeled himself, his legs trembled beneath him from the poison, but he remained strong. "There's no point in going around you to get out of here. Looks like I have no choice, Minato and Tatsuya are going to have to wait, because I'm taking you down!"

Naoya chuckled to himself. _'That's the spirit Yu, let go of your fears and just go with the flow.'_

* * *

An explosion went off on the tenth floor.

Minato was blasted through a wall and landed in a tumble before digging his hand into the ground to stop himself. His clothes were tattered and most of his face was covered in blood, but that didn't hide the broad smile that stretched his facial features.

This was the thrill that he lived for.

Shadow Tatsuya stepped through the – now destroyed – wall and returned Minato's smile with his own, his condition was more or less equivalent to Minato's at the moment. "I'll admit it; your strength is not of this world. It isn't hard to see that you've outclassed my other half." At this, Minato gave a low chuckle.

"Saying that I've outclassed him is a stretch," Minato said before standing up. "No, Tatsuya is a rare breed of warrior… one that surpasses me in skill. This form of mine…" he opened his hand and observed his palm. "It just caught him off guard is all. I'm sure the next time we fight; things will be much different than they are now."

Shadow Tatsuya glowered at Minato. "You show humility… and it disgusts me."

"Tch, take a chill pill you overgrown blob," Minato said. "My gosh, you never cease to tick me off."

"Tell me something about that form," Shadow Tatsuya spoke. "Is it not a successful fusion of your primary Persona's essence with your own body and soul?"

"So what if it is?" Minato said.

"If I'm correct, that would mean that not only can you _not_ call upon the powers of your other Personas, but you now suffer from the same drawbacks as the one you draw power from, no?"

Minato's lips formed a thin line on his face and he took a step back. _'Aw shit.'_

"I'll take that as a yes then," Shadow Tatsuya said as he crushed a Tarot card. "Zio," he whispered, making Oberon appear besides him and point his rapier at Minato, prompting him to jump to the side to barely avoid a bolt of lightning that struck down from where he stood.

"This just got troublesome," Minato murmured before bolting at Shadow Tatsuya. He bounded off of his right leg and performed a spin kick with his left, one that was easily guarded by Shadow Tatsuya, creating a loud 'boom' that reverberated around the tenth floor.

Shadow Tatsuya grabbed Minato's left leg and threw him down, cracking the floor from the intensity of the slam. Minato hissed in pain before flipping back and narrowly missing being stabbed through the face.

' _His moves are incredible,'_ Minato thought.

' _ **Finally, I get to rip him apart,**_ **'** Shadow Tatsuya thought.

Shadow Tatsuya summoned Nata Taishi to attack Minato head on while he followed with his own assault.

"Bring it!" Minato yelled as he rushed at the duo. Nata Taishi's right fist began to glow with a blue light as he struck down at Minato, who countered the punch with his own. Any remaining glass in the building exploded from the collision, while the building itself began to rumble around them. A weaker, but still powerful punch from Nata Taishi made its way to Minato's ribs, but his elbow blocked the path, invoking another quake within the building. Shadow Tatsuya appeared behind Minato and brought his left down to Minato's neck with the intent to kill. Minato twisted his left arm and caught the left sword in his hand with a bit of resistance.

"Not so cheeky now are you!?" Shadow Tatsuya yelled in response as he summoned Oberon with his free hand. Oberon appeared above Minato and pointed his rapier at him once again. Minato clicked his tongue in annoyance before bringing his right hand to Nata Taishi's scarf and lifting him above his head to take the brunt of the lightning bolt. Nata Taishi shattered, but that didn't stop Shadow Tatsuya from freeing his sword and cutting Minato in his side, reopening the wound and drawing more blood than before.

"Grr, I've had enough!" Minato turned on his right heel and slammed his foot into Shadow Tatsuya before squatting down. He jumped with all of his might and lifted both hands above his head as he burst through the ceiling and began to rise into the sky. Below him, Shadow Tatsuya had hopped through the opening and onto the roof.

"Yes! Show me something worth my time!" Shadow Tatsuya yelled to Minato, who himself was nearly a speck from Shadow Tatsuya's perspective.

"I had initially conceived this attack with the thought that I'd use it with a Persona as strong as Thanatos, but Orpheus can still do some damage," Minato muttered. The aura that encompassed him made its way to his right fist and compressed itself in his closed palm. "This next attack of my own creation! Avoiding it is nigh impossible, so you better defend yourself!" Minato dropped from the sky and towards the roof, picking up speed at an incredibly fast pace as he neared his target.

' _ **Yes… I accept your attack with open arms!'**_ Shadow Tatsuya thought as Minato got closer.

' _This… is the end!'_ The gap between Shadow Tatsuya and Minato shrunk considerably in a matter of seconds, but to both fighters, it had felt like an eternity as Minato plummeted from the sky.

It was when Shadow Tatsuya felt a wave of massive energy wash over him, that he realized just what Minato had in store. His expression turned into a grim one, and he scrambled to raise a proper guard in time for the attack.

"IT'S NO USE!" Minato yelled as he finally closed the distance between them and slammed his fist into Shadow Tatsuya's swords, generating a large ball of light around them that expanded to cover the entire roof before exploding violently. The resounding explosion increased in size exponentially, shaking the Earth mercilessly and consuming the entire ruined city plaza.

* * *

He had realized that he was a fool.

A fool for thinking that he would get help from a shadow. HIS shadow. How could he be so stupid?

The answer was obvious: because he was a fool.

Tatsuya had been walking for what felt like at least two or three hours, though it had probably not been that long in the real world… or at least he hoped.

There was still nothing surrounding him to let him know whether or not he had been walking in either a circle, a random pattern, or just straight.

The silence was getting to him.

Normally, he would long for moments of peace and tranquility, but in a situation like this he could only hope for some sort of disruption.

Disruption came.

There was a dim light that appeared in the corner of his eyes and he desperately searched for it in hopes of something to ease his mind. The light danced in his vision and he tried to follow it the best he could, but no matter how much he ran he never felt like he had gotten closer.

He stopped to catch his breath and closed his eyes in a mixture of both concentration and irritation. When he opened them, his breathing hitched in his throat.

Instead of the dark void he had been wandering in hopelessly, he was surrounded by an infinite number of stars and nebulae. He spun around and took it all in, still in shock and awe over his current predicament.

"Whe-where am I?" He breathed out. Somewhere off in the distance, there was a dark laughter that had caught his attention. He began to run towards it, the laughter increasing in volume as he ran farther in… whatever direction he was running in. "Who's there!?"

' _You never forgot.'_ Tatsuya stopped running and formed a confused expression on his face.

"Wha?"

' _You never forgot.'_ The voice repeated. At this, Tatsuya's heart began to pound loudly in his chest and his legs began to tremble.

"Wh-who said that!? Answer me!" He called out, his patience fading immediately.

' _The harbinger of the end.'_

"Where are you!?" The bright void around Tatsuya shook violently and knocked him off of his feet. He fell on his back and groaned in pain, his headache returning in full. He clutched his head as the rumbling didn't cease, in fact, it had increased in intensity in a mere second.

Just then, a colossal black arm shot out from beneath the clouds and grabbed Tatsuya, raising him into the air and tightening its clutches on him.

' _Forget… Harbinger… End… Sin.'_ The black hand tightened around him, causing him to scream in agony from slowly being crushed.

* * *

Naoya placed both hands on his sheathed sword and held it in front of him as Yu swung down with his blade, gritting his teeth when Naoya guarded it cleanly. Naoya focused and examined Yu's face as he pushed against him, internally sighing when he saw Yu's eyes frequently darting towards the door.

' _He's being held back by his worries, or maybe…'_ he thought.

Yu aimed a quick right sweep for Naoya but it proved fruitless when Naoya anticipated the attack and locked ankles with Yu.

Yu withdrew his sword and stabbed it into the ground, using it to hop off the ground and kick Naoya in the neck while staying in the air by holding onto the hilt. Naoya bit down on his bottom lip and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Yu's forehead and squeezed the trigger. Before Naoya could fire, Yu released his grip and let his upper body drop to the ground, hearing the gun go off and feeling the bullet whiz over his head as he placed both hands on the ground to catch himself. He twisted his body so his torso was facing the ground as opposed to his back and removed his foot from the side of Naoya's neck and swept him off of his feet.

Naoya crushed a Tarot card and summoned a gust of wind beneath him before he hit the ground, floating a few inches in the air for a few seconds so he could readjust himself and land on his feet. He hopped back and caught Izanagi next to Yu – who himself was sweating profusely and breathing heavily - charging lightning in his hand while remaining stationary. Naoya took the bait, putting his gun in his holster and started to sprint at Yu.

But he stopped.

"Hey… Yu," Naoya called out, easily catching his attention. Behind Yu, Izanagi stopped charging, but remained on standby.

"What?"

"I think I've realized just what I should be doing."

"And… *huff*… that is?"

"All this time I've been trying to stop you when in reality… I should be testing your resolve."

At this, Yu raised an eyebrow. "What are… what are you getting at?"

"As I've said before… I truly respect your desire to help those around you, as it's a commendable trait to have," Naoya commented with a smirk. "But let me ask you this: what do you do, when there's nobody around for you to help?"

Yu grimaced.

"How would you feel, if you were truly… alone?"

Yu shot him a dark gaze. "Shut up."

' _There it is_ _.'_ Naoya drew his sword and tossed the sheath aside. "Anyways, here's the deal: I won't move from this spot, meaning I'm almost completely vulnerable to whatever you can dish out. Now, here's where the fun starts. I can still attack you, and I'll be doing it to incapacitate. However, if you can make me bleed more than I already am, then I'll sit back down and leave you be."

"And why can't I just walk past you?" Yu inquired.

"Cause if you do that… I'm gonna have to kill you," Naoya warned.

Yu narrowed his eyes. "Tch, like you'd do th-" he was silenced when he felt a bullet whiz past his cheek. He placed two fingers on where the bullet grazed and felt warm blood trickle onto his fingertips. When he looked at Naoya, he saw that the smile that painted his face was gone yet again. His eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows were furrowed; his mouth was but a thin line on his face as he put his gun away.

"How many Dias have you used to stay conscious? I'm pretty sure you've only got enough juice in you for one more attack… especially since that poison's been in your bloodstream for a while now," Naoya mused as he walked around to Yu's side so that his back was now facing the door.

Yu remained silent as he let Izanagi electrify his blade. He bent his knees and began to concentrate on Naoya's position, closing his eyes as he heard sparks of electricity go off around him.

Naoya summoned Seimen Kongou to create a Garu large enough to encompass him as he too closed his eyes. The Garu compressed itself before it expanded and burst, the same time Seimen Kongou vanished from next to Naoya.

Yu's eyes shot open and he pushed off, vanishing in a bolt of lightning that made its way to Naoya in the blink of an eye.

The same time Yu moved, Naoya gripped his sword tighter than ever and slashed at the air in front of him, generating no noise as he moved his upper body in sync with his blade. Yu reappeared behind Naoya in a crouching position with his sword held in front of him.

Nothing happened for a short moment. No noise, no movement… nothing.

Then, Yu fell over, a puddle of blood forming around his unconscious body.

"Forgive me… Yu," Naoya muttered as he dropped his blade on the ground carelessly. "You shouldn't be dead, but still…" He turned around and picked Yu up, hoisting him over his shoulders and carrying him to the table where he then placed him down and looked at Margaret. "Please… heal him."

Margaret eyed him carefully before speaking. "And what shall you do now?"

Naoya let out a sigh of exhaustion. "I'm a man of my word," he said as he turned around and made his way back to his seat. Before he reached it however, he stood still and spat up an absurd amount of blood, looking down at his chest and smiling at the new wound that spanned across his torso. "Hehehe… not bad Yu, not bad at all." He staggered towards his seat and sat down, leaning back and closing his eyes. He felt something fall on his cheek and he grabbed whatever it was, opening his eyes and smiling harder.

He was holding a few strands of his hair.

"I'll let him off… just this once," he murmured before he closed his eyes and fell unconscious.

* * *

The city plaza was leveled.

The tall, rundown buildings had been destroyed from the explosion, leaving only massive piles of rubble and smoke. The smaller buildings were in roughly the same condition, now either heaps of debris or just completely obliterated.

In one pile, a few of the rocks rumbled for a moment before being shoved aside. From the rocks, Minato rose shakily, clutching his head in pain and taking deep breaths. His hair turned blue and shortened to its original size while his clothes returned to their original, tattered form, the ethereal scarf around his neck dissipating. The only remnant of his power up was his red eyes, which themselves were finally dissipating to reveal his now bloodshot ones.

"That was everything I had… there's no way he could've withstood that one," Minato murmured. "I've won this fight."

"Your confidence in yourself is almost palpable," a voice said from behind him. "Crushing it… shall be a great pleasure."

Minato's eyes widened at the sound, already knowing what it was. He spun around, taking in the sight of Shadow Tatsuya standing a few feet away. His right eye was shut and the upper left half of his suit had been completely torn off from the attack, exposing his burnt and bruised skin.

"H-how are you still standing?" Minato asked. "You should've been defeated."

"Moreover, I should have been killed!" Shadow Tatsuya yelled. "That attack is truly praiseworthy… I'm still in awe over how much power you have within you, boy! Had I not, teleported at the last moment and instead remained at the epicenter… I much rather not think about it."

Minato gritted his teeth and tried to get into a defensive stance, but he used the last of his energy with that move… he wasn't sure if he could win in this state. At this point… his best bet was to try and survive.

"Now… let the torment begin!" Shadow Tatsuya called his blades to him and threw one straight for Minato, who mustered up enough energy to lean to the side and avoid getting skewered. He turned his head to see the blade land on the ground next to a pile of rocks and turned back to see Shadow Tatsuya had once again vanished.

"Shit… where is he going to appear!?" Minato asked as he looked around frantically. Shadow Tatsuya popped up right in front of him, both of his hands on his sword with a psychotic smile on his face. Minato tried to react and step back, but Shadow Tatsuya was quicker.

"Let me hear you scream!" He rose up and thrusted his sword through Minato's left shoulder, drawing an ear piercing scream as he pulled the sword out and kicked Minato to the ground. "Yes! YES! Scream for me!" He stabbed Minato in the same spot and twisted the blade, causing Minato to scream even louder than before as he squirmed beneath Shadow Tatsuya. "I wish to witness you experience… your worst fears!" He summoned Oberon and stepped back as the fairy thrusted his rapier into Minato's side, drawing another pained scream from him.

Minato somehow managed to get on his feet and let his left arm droop to his side as he rubbed his eyes with his right hand. His surroundings were morphing into something they weren't, and that put him on high alert. Each time he blinked, the world around him continued to change until he was no longer in the city plaza.

No, he was in a white room, standing in front of a large, black intimidating blob. Minato stepped away until his back hit a wall. The blob inched forwards, its red eyes looking deep into Minato's soul.

"Summon it," a voice ordered. Minato turned his head towards the source and saw a mirror, reflecting his startled face and the approaching blob. Minato turned back and flinched at the small distance between him and the blob.

"I… I can't… please… I can't!" He stuttered. "Pl-please… d-don't… no more… shocks…"

Shadow Tatsuya felt the beginnings of a smile creep onto his visage. "Shocks, eh?" He began to laugh maniacally as he raised his hand in the air. "Oberon… Zio!"

* * *

Tatsuya scrambled to his feet to avoid being crushed by the large, black hand that descended towards him. He moved out of the way, but the impact of the hand slamming into the ground knocked him off of his feet.

Before he could get back up, he was grabbed once again and screamed due to the immense squeezing.

' _The harbinger of the end… the harbinger of the end.'_ The disembodied voice repeated over and over, eating away at Tatsuya's sanity.

Maybe… he should just give up.

He had been tricked by his own shadow, forced into his own hell of a soul, and brutally tortured for… who knows how long. Maybe… succumbing was the best choice.

* * *

"GAAH!" Minato's body shook violently from being shocked multiple times by Oberon. Above him, Shadow Tatsuya laughed at the sight.

"This is marvelous! Yes, boy, quiver beneath me!" He raised his sword above his head and sent it down towards Minato's right leg.

"AAHH!" The black creature's arm went straight through his thigh, making Minato scream once more as blood squirted out rapidly from the wound. He tried to crawl away, but the creature grabbed his foot and pulled him back. "Please… somebody… help me."

His salvation came in the form of another voice.

' _You can do it… just focus,'_ it said.

"I c-can't… it's too much," Minato mumbled.

' _Yes you can… try harder.'_ Minato closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, the creature raising its arm above Minato for the killing blow. _'You're almost there… you can do it Minato… WE can do it.'_

The room was engulfed in light and everything around him began take on its original features before Oberon had stabbed him. The veil over his mind began to fade, the fear started to dissipate.

' _See? I said you can do it and you did. After all, you are my dear-'_

Just before Shadow Tatsuya impaled Minato, he halted and stepped back. "So… you still have some fight left in you?" In front of him, despite his injuries, Minato rose to his feet. He placed more weight on his left leg, struggling to stay standing.

"T-Tatsuya… I k-know you're in there… you need… you need to come to your senses," Minato breathed out.

Shadow Tatsuya scowled. "I am Tatsuya! I AM HERE!" He tightened his grip on his sword and slashed upwards, cutting deep into Minato's torso. He raised his foot and kicked Minato in the fresh wound, forcing him back onto the floor. Shadow Tatsuya's anger rose by the second, but he knew he could quell it with some well-placed violence. He eyed Minato's body on the ground, seeing the massive amount of blood forming on the center of his destroyed shirt. He chuckled as he placed his foot a few inches above the large gash, and with all of his might, stomped down.

Pain… White pain… Ungodly pain. The scream that came from Minato surpassed all of his previous ones by a longshot. He instinctively placed his right hand on Shadow Tatsuya's foot and with futile efforts, tried to push it off. Minato's pointless struggling brought back the sadistic joy in Shadow Tatsuya.

He brought his foot up, and stomped down again.

* * *

Tatsuya's eyes were shut as he submitted himself to the approaching cold embrace of Death.

Killed by the demons within his soul… how twee.

Then… a sharp scream pulled him out of his reverie. His eyes shot open and he gasped in shock.

"That sounded like… Minato!" Suddenly, a light appeared in front of him, and from it he saw a beaten Minato suffering beneath what appeared to be his body. "A-am I doing that?" He asked. No, he realized, it was his shadow performing those actions.

But why should he help Minato?

The same person who nearly beat him to death earlier? All for the simple ecstasy it gave him. Why does he deserve his assistance? And more importantly…

How could he help?

"It looks like we're both in some trouble, aren't we?" If Tatsuya was going to die, he would at least die with honor… holding a grudge would be beneath him. Despite it being the reason they were both in this mess.

Just then… he heard Minato speak.

"Tatsuya… get it t-together… do you r-really want to go out like this?" Tatsuya saw his own foot rise up before descending down on Minato again. Tatsuya flinched and looked away when Minato screamed in agony.

"What can I do!? I might as well resolve myself to forever be tormented… as I have before," he wasn't sure if Minato could hear him out there, but he didn't care.

"W-what would Naoya and Yu think… if you gave in… to your shadow?" Minato asked before Shadow Tatsuya grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up.

"Once you've fallen… the other two shall join you in eternal suffering," Shadow Tatsuya said before letting go.

With the last of his energy, Minato remained standing and called out to Tatsuya. "What would… What would Maya think of you, Tatsuya!?"

That got Tatsuya's full attention. "M-Maya?" Tatsuya gritted his teeth and managed to free both of his arms, placing it on the large hand's thumb and index finger, using all of his might to push them apart. The hand released Tatsuya and he dropped to the floor, landing on both of his feet with a thud. He jerked his face upwards the hand as it descended down on him, but he hopped to the side as it slammed down, remaining on his feet as the ground beneath him rumbled.

"No! I can't die here! I won't die here!" He shouted as he hopped onto the hand and jumped into the air. "Give me my body back!"

Shadow Tatsuya ceased his attack and stepped back, clutching his head as he felt Tatsuya resisting from within. "No Tatsuya, what are you doing!? Cease this nonsense and let me finish!"

Using Shadow Tatsuya as a catalyst, Tatsuya spoke up. "Enough of this! You've gone far enough! Give me back control!"

"…Fine then Tatsuya. Just know this: our time together has only just begun…" a torrent of black energy engulfed Shadow Tatsuya, creating a powerful wind that blew out in all directions. When the torrent dissipated, Tatsuya was back in control of his body, breathing heavily as all of the energy was drained from his body.

"So… you're back now," Minato said before falling backwards onto the ground.

The injuries Tatsuya's body endured during Shadow Tatsuya's reign took their toll and Tatsuya fell forward, landing next to Minato on the ground. No words were spoken between them for a short while, then Tatsuya spoke up.

"Minato… T-thank y-" he was interrupted.

"Shut up… thanking me… is gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth," Minato said. "Besides… I only wanted you out… so I could beat you again."

"Tch… is that so?" Tatsuya breathed out. "I find that… hard to believe." He received no response, as Minato had passed out besides him. Tatsuya let out a hoarse chuckle as he shut his eyes. "I guess this means… I won this one," he said before passing out as well.

* * *

"Shall I retrieve them?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes… and do make haste Elizabeth, Master Philemon is returning very soon," Igor said. At that, Elizabeth stood up and made her way towards the door.

* * *

Yu was the last one to wake up, rubbing his aching body and letting out a yawn. "Ngh, what happened?" The memories came flooding back to him as he massaged his temples. To his right, Naoya smacked him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you're awake!" He yelled in glee. Yu turned to him with a scowl, and without warning, punched Naoya in the face.

Naoya grabbed his jaw and massaged it before sighing. "Yup, I guess I deserve that one. But in my defense, I should do worse to you!"

"And why's that!?" Naoya opened his right hand and let his strands of hair drop to the floor.

"Ok, seriously Naoya, it's just hair," Yu deadpanned.

"Just hair!? Why I ought to…"

"Yeah Josuke, ease up, you can always trim it later," Minato chimed in from besides Naoya.

"The hell did you say about my hair!?"

Yu gasped and leaned forward to get a better look. "Minato, you're alright! Tatsuya too!"

"Of course I am," Minato said confidently. "What, you expect me to die so early, if at all?"

"And Tatsuya, is your…" Yu trailed off. Minato turned his head to Tatsuya and exchanged blank expressions with him, remaining silent for a while. They silently nodded at each other before averting their gazes.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it," Tatsuya said.

"See Yu, I told you it was all in good nature. It'll only be a matter of time before they declare their undying love for each other," Naoya joked, having seemingly calmed down.

"What!?" The other three team members yelled out in shock.

Naoya raised his hands in defense and gave an uneasy smile. "Kidding, kidding… jeez, you guys can't take a joke?"

Next to the main table, a torrent of butterflies formed and dispersed, revealing Philemon.

"When did you leave?" Tatsuya asked, putting a hand to his chin in curiosity.

"I left while you were settling your differences with each other," Philemon replied. "I do hope everything is in order."

"For the most part yes," Minato commented. "But I can't promise we won't go at it again in the future."

"The rivalries you have for each other shall keep your team morale strong and everlasting," Philemon said warmly.

"Ok, next question: why am I finding it hard to believe that you guys are fixing our clothes with spells? Seems a little farfetched if you ask me," Naoya said.

"That would be because of my contributions," a new voice chimed in.

Next to Margaret, another torrent of butterflies took form before dissipating. Seated next to Margaret was a young man with slicked back white hair and a blue, bell boy hat. He wore a black, collared shirt beneath a blue suit with a blue necktie. His pants were hidden behind the table, but everybody assumed that he was most likely wearing black slacks, as per the Velvet Room uniform.

"It is a pleasure to make your shared acquaintance," he spoke.

Yu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Hey I remember you… you're-"

Margaret and Elizabeth spoke at the same time. "Our foolish younger brother, Theodore," they said simultaneously. Theodore deadpanned in embarrassment before covering his face with his gloved right hand.

"I fear that I shall never get respected by my elder siblings," Theodore whined.

"Oh… so it's this guy dealing with our clothing?" Naoya asked. "Well ok then… WAIT A MINUTE!"

"Ignoring him… Philemon, is there a reason that Theodore is here now? N-not to be rude or anything Theodore," Yu assured, earning a curt smile from Theodore. Next to Yu, Naoya was inwardly panicking over the thought of being potentially being undressed by some guy he never met until now.

"Ah yes of course, the reason why you haven't met Theodore until now is because he has been tending to another guest," Philemon informed.

"Another?" Tatsuya inquired.

"Correct, as I'm sure you are very aware of… there are a near infinite number of universes other than your own, and the Velvet Room can serve as a… bridge of sorts between them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… other universes? That's kind of hard to take in... guests from different universes," Naoya mumbled. He felt a gaze drill into the side of his head, and turned to see Tatsuya looking at him with an angered expression. "Oh right, hehe… sorry."

"Naoya, can you please take this seriously?" Yu asked politely. Naoya gave him a sidelong look before sighing and nodding his head.

"The massive collection of universes are known as the Amala Network," Philemon continued. "Each universe has a constant, for most of them are but variations of each other, created from one choice, one action… one mistake."

"So… like say, had one of us gotten offed during our journeys… there would be a universe for that," Naoya said.

"Yes," Philemon replied.

"Alright, so what does this have to do with Theodore's guest?" Minato asked.

"More than you currently know. In fact, this guest's journey is tied closely to your fate Minato."

"Mine? How so?" At that, Philemon laughed heartily and snapped his fingers. In between the table and the team, another torrent of butterflies appeared, this one taking longer to dissipate than the others.

Almost as if it was purposely creating suspense.

When it finally did, it revealed a chair with a young girl seated in it. She had auburn hair tied into a messy ponytail, her head drooped over to signify she was in a deep slumber. She wore a white collared shirt under a long sleeved, black jacket with a school emblem on the left breast, a midsized black skirt that reached just above her knees and long stockings.

"I would like for you to meet your newest teammate…" Philemon extended his arm out towards the sleeping girl.

"Hamuko Yuki."

* * *

 **Okily-Dokily, here's that 'Important Author's Note' I warned ya about.**

 **Starting from now, I'm going to be more informant about the chapters and their progress, as well as any important news for this story and other projects I wish to work on in the upcoming future.**

 **Anything and everything about this story and potential others can be found on my profile.**

 **Important Author's Note done**

 **Uhhh yeah…**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Cognitive Dissonance**

 **-Reviews**

 **Rittie: Thanks. I can see why this could be counted as a pet peeve, but do remember that Minato doesn't know Tatsuya's other friends. The only way he somewhat knows of Maya's existence is through Innocent Sin Online, and that in of itself was a completely minute detail in Persona 3 only meant as a small reference to Persona 2. And with the naming convention, just know that there's always a method to my madness.**

 **Mocasiotorres27: Considering them brothers is a nice little dynamic… does that make Hamuko the sister and if so, what would she be like? Then again, should I be the one with the answers?**

 **EternalCombOver: There was actually at least two or three Dragonball Z references thrown in both parts of the fight. Minato's ruthless beatdown of Tatsuya was taken mostly from Broly's beatdown of Goku. Tatsuya's first attack on Minato's new form was a complete reference to Vegeta charging head on at LSS Broly only to fail miserably (although I added some extra stuff to make it fit Persona). Minato's little Nuclear Punch was a reference to Super Vegeta v Cell, specifically the Final Flash so you do get points for that. Moments before that happened, Minato and Shadow Tatsuya had a quick thought exchange. I quote:**

' _His moves are incredible,'_ Minato thought.

' _ **Finally, I get to rip him apart,**_ **'** Shadow Tatsuya thought.

 **This was a reference to SS2 Goku v Majin Vegeta, when they had the same thought exchange. I had a bunch of different ideas on how to implement this, but settled on what you saw in the end. There was also a little Jojo's Bizarre Adventure reference in the team's little banter at the end there, though that one is a bit more blatant than the DBZ ones I sprinkled in.**

 **And I couldn't resist keeping Hamuko out any longer, I just had to put her in. Originally, it was going to be a LONG while until she joined the team, but I really wanted her in.**

 **NollyVyn: Just one crack or a plethora of cracks? Funnily enough, I too originally preferred Minako over Hamuko, but I had a change of heart. Plus, there's a method to my madness…**

 **I'm pleased to see that you enjoyed the fight, I can't count the amount of times I constantly went back because I was unsatisfied with different segments. I'm glad that you caught the small hint of foreshadowing, I wonder what else that eye of yours can see...**

 **Cosmic Sky: And we haven't even scratched the surface in terms of the violence I can dish out! To see that you had a hard time deciding who was the team player in that situation is oddly intriguing (not in an offensive way of course), because I didn't really expect that kind of reaction. I'm also very pleased that the general reaction for Hamuko's addition is very positive, looks like I made the right choice.**

 **Extraneous: I made some cover art for the story. Anybody notice it?**

 **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

"H-Hamuko… Y-Yuki?" The words left Minato's mouth as if they were hurting him to say. Each syllable came out with a palpable amount of negativity, drawing Tatsuya's sole curiosity.

"Is something the matter?" Tatsuya asked as he narrowed his eyes. Besides him, Minato's face scrunched up and he gritted his teeth as his hands clenched the arms of his chair.

"N-no… everything… is alright."

Tatsuya wasn't pleased with that answer, but he left well enough alone.

"In her universe, she is the one who takes your place and goes on her own journey," Philemon informed. "One that mirrors your own."

"How far along is she?" Minato asked, holding back waves of inner anger and hatred.

"In her universe, I do recall her just returning to her quarters to rest after a rather powerful storm struck her surrounding area," Theodore chimed in.

"Minato, care to translate?" Naoya asked.

"During the year my journey took place – around September I believe – I got caught in the vestiges of a typhoon while making my way back home. I got sick and in turn slept it off for three days straight," Minato explained. "I assume that she was in the midst of sleeping through cold when she was pulled over to this side."

"Wait, could her being here alter any events on her side?"

"Rest assured knowing that everything has been taken care of," Philemon said. "For now, you must be patient for her to awaken until you can take any future actions."

"I shall continue to search for the next fragment while she rests," Elizabeth said.

"Very well," Tatsuya said as he rose from his seat. "Assuming that you'll notify us when she wakes up, there's nothing left here for us right now." With that, he turned towards the door and opened it, not hesitating to walk out of the Velvet Room.

"Well, guess we're on break until then," Naoya drawled as he stood up, stretching in place. Yu said nothing as he rose and walked with Naoya out of the Velvet Room.

Minato stood up and lingered in place, eyeing Hamuko's sleeping form with a dark emotion that he hadn't felt well up within him for years until now. He balled his hands into tight fists until his knuckles turned white, the pressure around him thickening by the second. He instinctively turned his gaze towards Elizabeth, who met his with a worried look. Almost instantly, his anger was quelled and he apologized before leaving the Velvet Room.

* * *

"Boy… you guys really let loose out here, didn't ya?" Naoya was observing the wreckage of Minato and Tatsuya's fight with an impressed eye while Yu came up beside him. "You see this Yu? This is the result of two hardened fighters battling with only their conviction to back them up."

"I don't think it's possible to not see everything Naoya," Yu deadpanned. "But still, I do hope they've gotten everything out of their system."

In front of them while facing away, Tatsuya snorted at Yu's comment before waving him off. "There was nothing in our _system_ to begin with… I just had to beat him into place is all."

"That sounds like somethin' Minato would say," Naoya joked, earning another snort from Tatsuya. "But if you say so kid, next time just… give us a warning please? Going off of your tangible lust for each other doesn't always help." Besides Naoya, Yu tried to stifle laugh but failed miserably as he couldn't contain it any longer.

' _ **They mock you… mock US, Tatsuya. Their pain shall come in waves.'**_ Shadow Tatsuya said from within Tatsuya's mind.

' _Shut up.'_

' _ **Silencing your other half? How discourteous.'**_

' _Shut. Up.'_ Tatsuya's patience dwindled quickly.

' _ **I am truly hurt, Tatsuya. Perhaps I should once again show you that I can fulfill your inner desires.'**_

"Shut up!" Tatsuya yelled aloud, drawing Naoya and Yu from their goodhearted jokes.

"S-sorry Tatsuya," Yu stammered, bowing in respect. Tatsuya spun on his heels and waved his hands wildly.

"N-no I… it was j-just… never mind," Tatsuya averted his gaze and walked away from the duo, taking solace against the remains of a one-story building, leaning against a large rock.

Naoya's stomach rumbled, eliciting a groan from him and a hum of curiosity from Yu. "Food… in a post-apocalyptic world… doesn't seem too realistic."

"Do you think we can find at least something to nibble on in what's left of the supermarket?" Yu inquired.

"Not at all!" Naoya cheered, much to Yu's confusion.

"Why are you-"

"So there I was…" Naoya started, narrowing his eyes and darting them left to right. "Everybody was asleep in the supermarket when I woke up randomly in the middle of the night… hungry and afraid." He leaned in close to Yu and placed a hand to the side of his mouth. "Then… I pounced! Running around the supermarket at blinding speeds, I managed to find more than a handful of food items for us to munch on before we ended up starving to death, showing no mercy to anything crossing my sight that counted as a potential meal. I was relentless Yu!"

"That's great! So, where are they now?"

"They're in the item bag," Naoya beamed at Yu victoriously.

"…The… item bag."

"Uh-huh, stuffed 'em in there while you were sleeping."

"The one that's currently in the Velvet Room."

"Yup."

"The same Velvet Room that we currently… can't go in?"

"Yup… not another word please."

.

..

…

"Jokes aside… there's something I want to know."

"Yo?"

Yu hesitated for a second before he continued. "Something's been bugging me ever since Tatsuya lost control of his shadow," Yu mumbled as he turned his gaze to where Tatsuya once stood.

"If it's the fact that we'll be working with somebody with obvious issues, then don't worry about it, we'll just have to knock some sense into him every now and then," Naoya chuckled as he kicked some dirt.

"No it's not that… it's just… how could that be his shadow?"

"What do you mean by that?" Naoya stopped what he was doing and put his hands on his hips.

"I mean… your shadow and your persona can't exist at the same time so-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where'd you hear that lie!?"

"Excuse me?"

"Dude, both can exist together, your shadow is a manifestation of the negative qualities that you repress, right?" Yu nodded. "Your Persona is just one of the many faces within your soul, with your initial Persona being the face truest to yourself. Therefore, your shadow is – essentially – just another face that makes up your soul."

"If what you say is true then…" Yu trailed off.

"Yup, the Persona that comes to you at the end of your journey – let's call it: Ultimate Persona – is the combination of each face that makes up your soul, shadow included. Now, that can also exist at the same time your shadow does, however, it is noticeably weaker if you've yet to confront and accept your shadow."

"I… think I get it now."

"Great, then we'll call it quits on this lesson with Professor Naoya."

Tatsuya periodically flicked his lighter in thought as he replayed his fight with Minato in his head. There was something he couldn't get out of his head, more specifically, Minato's miniature breakdown before his transformation.

' _M-mom…D-dad… somebody please… help me… help us.'_

Minato had said that out loud as he crumbled into a fetal position on the floor, clutching his head in agony… or was it…

Fear?

' _ **He most likely prayed for divine intervention, latching onto the vestiges of what little hope he had left of surviving.'**_ Shadow Tatsuya flickered into existence in front of Tatsuya. _**'That can't be it… as I recall, you two were even in strength until he pulled out that trick.'**_

"I don't plan on humoring you anytime soon," Tatsuya said calmly, making Shadow Tatsuya laugh heartily.

' _ **Oh but you already are Tatsuya. Merely acknowledging my presence is humoring me, speaking to me however, is was fuels my existence.'**_

"Then let this be the last time I speak to you… hopefully you'll wither away and die."

' _ **That isn't how things work my boy.'**_ Shadow Tatsuya flashed his teeth in an evil grin. _**'I'm not something that will merely 'go away'. No, I'm something that is much, MUCH more!'**_

Tatsuya remained silent.

' _ **The darkness in your heart is what sustains me, the hatred you harbor is what powers me, I… am immortal.'**_ He approached Tatsuya and placed his left hand on his shoulder. _**'So long as my other half continues to exist with me.'**_

Tatsuya's eyes met the one's of his own Shadow, his anger rising with each passing second he stared into those red orbs he called eyes. For less than a second, however, Shadow Tatsuya's eyes flickered yellow, his pupil and iris completely vanishing beneath the bright pigment. Tatsuya smacked his hand away and rubbed his eyes, flinching when Shadow Tatsuya was nowhere in sight.

' _ **I'll always be there.'**_

Tatsuya was going to be driven to the brink of insanity before this was all over, that he knew for sure.

Minato found himself staring at the bloodstained ground he was previously dying on. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his mind off of the… new recruit.

Hamuko. Yuki.

Just the thought of the name filled him with an anger that he wished he wouldn't feel ever again.

Hamuko. He gritted his teeth until they were on the brink of shattering within his mouth.

Yuki. Every fiber in his body wanted to lash out at the world around him and send everything to the deepest depths of hell.

Hamuko Yuki.

Hamuko. Yuki.

Hamuko.

Yuki.

"Even Death can be thrown off by a high accumulation of negativity," next to Minato, Pharos appeared and gave him a warm smile.

Minato sighed before sitting on the ground and rubbing his head. "I'm sorry it's just… it's complicated."

"Complicated, you say? After everything you went through while I was sealed within you, I doubt it can be too convoluted."

At that, Minato chuckled shakily. "I suppose you're right…" he sighed once more before opening his hand and observing his palm. "It isn't the girl per se, it's the name she was given. Hamuko Yuki."

"You've been repeating the name in your head like a broken record, too say I'm unfamiliar with it now would be a large understatement."

"My apologies… but I have a question first," Minato started. "If she is just me from another universe… then what does that entail for you?"

Pharos chuckled before answering his question. "As you are aware, the entire duration I was sealed within you during your stay in Iwatodai, every memory you created was shared with me, correct?" Minato nodded. "With her presence in this world, I've been given new memories, ones that have been created by her… it's as if I've lived two lives in the span of one… and a half."

"… I suppose that can suffice as a reasonable answer," Minato murmured. "Now for mine… Tatsuya, I would prefer it if I could see your face as opposed to just feeling you linger behind me." A short while passed until Tatsuya walked around Minato and stood beside Pharos with a blank expression. "I do hope you know that eavesdropping is a rude practice."

"That would be a rather hypocritical statement from you," Tatsuya shot.

Minato chuckled lightly. "That's a rather bold statement from you especially with the fact that I had won our little spar earlier." He shot Tatsuya a soft grin.

"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

"I don't lose… that's what makes me _think_ that," Minato's grin faded instantly and was replaced by a hard look.

Besides Tatsuya, Pharos cracked an amused smile before sitting down. "I do hope that I am not serving as some form of third-wheel here."

Tatsuya remained silent for a moment before he began to laugh. It wasn't long until Minato joined him, the two seeming to get along for once.

Tatsuya stopped after a while and let out a sigh while Minato's lips formed a thin line on his face. Tatsuya sat on the ground besides Pharos and gave Minato a calm stare.

Minato rubbed his forehead joined Tatsuya on the floor, meeting Tatsuya's stare with a disappointed gaze. "I assume you wish to know more about what happened to me back there… why I broke down." Tatsuya remained still. "Honestly, your guess is as good as mine… I'm not too sure what happened."

"Well, try your best to explain it," Tatsuya said.

Minato sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure if that's even possible. When it happened, all I could see was… some lab room and… I was being shocked and—and injected with… what was it? I don't know why I said what I did but… gosh, I just don't know. It felt so familiar and yet so… foreign."

Tatsuya hummed deep in his throat as he nodded his head. "I see… that girl back there, care to explain?"

"What is there to explain other than the fact that she's another version of me?"

"Something threw you in a loop at that moment… don't try to feign ignorance."

' _ **The negative flow of energy seeping off of him at that moment was delectable… I'm curious to see what caused it as well.'**_ Shadow Tatsuya mused from within Tatsuya.

"Very well," Minato's gaze drifted to Pharos before he let out a sigh. "Her last name, Yuki, it's…"

"It's?"

"Shared with the name of someone else, someone whose existence haunts my mind yet leaves me with an infinite set of questions."

"And the name of that someone else?"

"Makoto Yuki," Minato uttered the name slowly, almost in a whisper. "That name has been a part of me for as long as I could remember… and each time I thought of it I would be filled with unprecedented rage, yet, I could never find the reason why."

"Did you ever research the name?"

"Preaching to the choir, Tatsuya. I asked the elders of the families I stayed with until my throat would run dry and I would lose my voice… I scoured the Kirijo database for days on end, losing an unhealthy amount of sleep all the while, but each attempt would yield nothing." Minato pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Tatsuya turned his attention to Pharos. "And what about you? Do you know anything?" He asked.

Pharos shrugged his shoulders in response. "He and I have been trapped at an impasse since he first spoke the name to me so long ago. Unfortunately, despite having a new set of memories within me, I can still yield no further answers."

"I see… Minato, her first name, can you tell me its origins?"

"Sadly I cannot," Minato answered. "Although… that name has haunted me just as long as Makoto Yuki has."

"Hm." Tatsuya placed a hand to his chin in thought momentarily. "Well, I suppose I should hold up my end of the bargain."

' _I do believe it is time for your return for she has awoken,'_ Elizabeth informed. Tatsuya and Minato turned their attention to Naoya and Yu, all four of them nodding simultaneously at Elizabeth's voice.

"Right… we'll be there shortly," Tatsuya said, standing up. "We'll finish this conversation later."

"Indeed, we will," Minato replied as he rose to his feet and let out a sigh when he felt Pharos re-enter his psyche. "Let's just get this over with." At that, the two walked quietly towards Naoya and Yu, just managing to tune in to the end of another animated conversation between them.

"I mean, with how the Velvet Room isn't really a part of any universe, then it would only make sense that the laws of time don't apply to it… or the laws of physics for that matter," Naoya said.

"A valid argument yes, but it's still weird how it never stays consistent. I could have a conversation in there for five minutes only to return to the real world and find out that I was gone a whole week!" Yu exclaimed.

"Ah, that brings back memories," Minato reminisced. "But… Yu raises a good point, while that could – and has – happened, when I would visit the Velvet Room on my own accord, I would spend what felt like _days_ in there only to leave and not even an hour had gone by… truly mysterious."

"Again, it's in its own realm, therefore, it lives by its own rules! Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I could walk out of sight in one direction, only to walk back in sight from the other direction," Naoya said.

"Argue about trivial things later," Tatsuya commanded. "Come on, let's not keep them waiting any longer." They made their way to the Velvet Door and opened it, not hesitating to walk through with renewed vigor.

* * *

"Now, here is a weapon that has been fitted to both your stature and fighting style," Margaret spoke. "This is the best that I could conjure provided the small window of time I was given, but it should be able to suit you just fine for now."

"Ah, your teammates have arrived," Philemon informed.

In front of the main table, a young teenage girl turned around and looked at the group standing in front of the door. Her eyes were widened slightly in surprise and her mouth formed an 'o' shape on her face. She quickly turned around and picked up her weapon from off the table by its strap, putting it over her shoulder so that her weapon leaned against her back. She quickly approached the group and bowed politely, the naginata on her back bouncing in place with her sudden movement.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, I'm Hamuko Yuki. I've been informed of everything so far except the identity of you guys," she stood up straight and stepped towards Naoya, offering her hand for a handshake.

Naoya took it without hesitation. "Nice to meet ya, name's Naoya Toudou and can I just say, I love your earrings."

"Oh, thank you Naoya-san-"

"Please don't add 'san' at the end… it makes me feel old."

"I'm sorry… if it makes you feel better Naoya, I like your hairstyle," Hamuko said with a smile, making Naoya squeal in delight.

"You're already my favorite," Naoya joked, earning a small giggle from Hamuko. She stepped to the right and extended her hand towards Tatsuya.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said. Tatsuya took her hand gently and shook it.

"Tatsuya Suou, welcome to the team, I'm sure that you'll fight just as well as all of us," he said as he let go of Hamuko's hand and let his arm drop to his side.

"Thank you, I'll never give it less than 100% out there!" She cheered before stepping towards Yu, extending her hand in the same manner as before.

Yu grasped it more gently than Tatsuya, giving Hamuko a warm smile and leaning in. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hamu-chan," he said before kissing the back of Hamuko's hand and winking at her. "My name is Yu Narukami, but for a beautiful woman such as yourself, you can call me whatever you want."

Hamuko blushed furiously and struggled to speak. "I-uh-um… it-it's a…" she stopped and inhaled deeply. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well Yu, I hope we can work together smoothly."

"Oh we will, I can assure you that." He stepped back and gave Hamuko another wink, making her look in random directions before stepping towards Minato.

"So I guess that means that you're… me," Hamuko said as she extended her hand towards Minato. He hesitated for a brief moment before slowly extending his hand out to meet hers. Just before they connected, Minato's head pounded violently, making him retract his hand and place it towards his forehead.

He closed his eyes, but instead of pitch darkness as he saw was white and… another hand being extended towards him, the same hand he saw when he faced Tatsuya earlier.

The pain in his head vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving everybody around Minato confused as to what happened to him.

"I-I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, are you okay?" Hamuko asked as she reached for his Minato's left shoulder.

' _Are you okay?'_

Minato suddenly jerked backwards and shot Hamuko a dark glare. "I'm fine just… just don't touch me."

The Velvet Room grew silent.

"Yeesh, always the dramatic one aren't ya?" Naoya said before placing a hand on Minato's shoulder. "This here is Minato, don't let what just happened fool ya, deep down… there's probably a human in there." At that, Naoya fell back in laughter over his own joke, earning a frown from Yu and a scowl of disgust from Tatsuya.

"M-Minato?" At the sound of Hamuko's voice, Naoya stopped laughing and stood back up. Hamuko averted her gaze towards the ground and shook her head, giving Minato a weak smile. "S-sorry, it's a pleasure to meet you… Minato."

Minato eyed Hamuko for a few seconds before sighing. "Yeah… same," he breathed out, not necessarily caring if she heard him or not.

"So, Elizabeth, have you located the next fragment?" Yu broke the ice.

"Yes of course, the next Chaos fragment is located approximately one-thousand miles north of the immediate area outside of the Velvet Room."

"That's a rather far distance to close, we'd better get moving now," Tatsuya said.

"Agreed, I guess we'll hold off on any fusing until next time," Naoya said. "Besides, I guess it's better to do that when we've got more than just a handful."

"And so begins the next leg in our journey," Yu mused, stepping towards the table and grabbing the item bag from its resting place. "Hey, this isn't the same bag as before." The bag he was holding now had the same appearance as the previous one, the only difference being the fabric… something he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"I've noticed the extra items you've discovered and placed within the confines of the bag," Margaret pointed out. "I've taken the liberty of restocking and multiplying everything within it, thereby increasing your inventory tenfold."

"Thanks Margaret. How does all of this stuff fit in this tiny bag… without making it feel heavy in the slightest?" Yu asked as he hoisted the bag over his shoulder.

"This bag was specially created by my Master Igor, creating a pocket dimension within the bag that can sustain an infinite amount of luggage at any given time. To store weaponry within the bag is not an impossibility."

Naoya pumped both of his arms in the air. "Logic! It doesn't apply here!" He shouted by the door. "That's a point for me!" Yu rolled his eyes before making his way towards Naoya and opening the door, exiting while he and Naoya begun a new conversation. Before the door could lose, Hamuko jogged to it and placed her hand on the doorknob. She turned back and gave Minato an unsteady look, despite his back facing her. She shook her head once more before taking her leave, leaving Minato and Tatsuya in the Velvet Room.

"What happened back there?" Tatsuya asked.

"I… I don't know," Minato said. "She gave me her hand and then… I saw it again."

"The vision you had back then?"

"Y-yeah… look just… let's not dwell on it any longer alright?" With that said, he turned on his heel and took his leave with Tatsuya following his stead.

* * *

"His name… was Minato," Hamuko whispered as she stood beside the Velvet Door.

"Hey, Hamuko, could you come here for a sec?" Naoya called out. Hamuko's head shot up and she dashed towards him.

"Yeah?"

"Me and Yu over here are trying to settle a debate. Quick question, after you woke up, just how long was it before we arrived?"

Hamuko put a finger to her lips in thought. "It must've been at least an hour or so until you guys came in, why?"

"Ah-hah! What was a few hours in there, was only a few seconds out here! Like I said Yu, no universal ties equal no universal rules!" Naoya bragged.

"That still doesn't suit me as a reasonable answer," Yu said "There's gotta be more to it, there just has to." He refused to be wrong over anything, especially something as contentious as this.

As those two continued to bicker, Hamuko took some time to take in the new world she found herself in. The evening sun was beginning to set and the crisp air nipped at her skin as she observed the world in its current post-apocalyptic state, basking in the destruction that made up her immediate area.

She put a hand to her chest and her bottom lip quivered. "This is awful; I could have never imagined it to be this far gone."

Naoya's ears perked up as he released Yu from an innocent headlock and brushed off his shirt. "Oh it's not so bad… you'll get used to it after not too long. Besides, what you see in the immediate area is just the results of an over-the-top lover's quarrel between Minato and Tatsuya."

"What!?"

"Naoya, you're not easing her mind one bit," Yu said as he fixed his hair. "Hamuko, love, fret not, a strong woman such as yourself should have nary a thing to worry about so long as I'm by your side."

"Oh cause your little Casanova act is gonna make her feel all warm n' cozy," Naoya teased as he prodded Yu's right shoulder. "Treat her like a teammate and not like some random schoolgirl, will ya?"

"As a King, I treat all woman in the surrounding area like Queens."

"As a King!? What the hell kinda stupid character development is this? Y'know what, come 'ere ya little…"

While Naoya and Yu began to roughhouse again, Hamuko turned her head towards the only thing that remained unscathed, being the rails leading to the team's recent endeavor. She walked towards the rail and let out a gasp of surprise when she saw an ominous door at the bottom of the stairs.

She remembered hearing from Philemon how the maze containing the first fragment was nearby but… could this door lead to it? She felt butterflies in her stomach as she was moving down the stairs and closer to the captivating black door. Something in her soul told her to push the door open and brave the mysteries within, to face any obstacle that waited on the other side and come out a champion. Her left hand inched towards the black door as her mind became a blank canvas, silencing the world around her as she came closer to making contact.

Somebody grabbed her forearm, pulling her out of her reverie and prompting her to see who stopped her. Hamuko's crimson eyes met a pair of blue ones as she came face to face with none other than Minato gazing at her with an annoyed expression on his face. His gaze drifted to the red armband wrapped around her upper arm, narrowing his eyes at the black letters knitted into the cloth.

S.E.E.S

He released his grip on her forearm and snorted in irritation, putting his hands in his pocket and walking away from her. Hamuko pouted her lips before following Minato back up the steps and entering in the sights of her new teammates.

"I'm sorry for getting so distracted just then… I don't know what came over me."

Naoya waved her off politely. "Aw don't worry about it, happens to all of us y'know?" He assured her.

"It's just… something was tugging at my soul back there and I didn't know what it was," Hamuko explained.

"Don't dwell on it," Tatsuya said. "Right now, we need to keep moving."

"It's getting pretty late actually… would it be better if we leave first thing in the morning?" Yu suggested.

"In all honesty, I wouldn't mind getting some sleep… the kind not induced by rapid blood loss," Naoya said.

"We've wasted enough time as is," Tatsuya argued. "Staying here is only… is only," he let out a loud yawn.

"See? Even your body wants to take it slow big guy," Naoya said as he gave Tatsuya a pat on the back. "Even Minato seems to want to stay here. I wouldn't be surprised if you and he have grown attached to this little shithole in the middle of nowhere." He motioned towards Minato, who currently had his back towards the team as he stared out into the empty world in front of him.

' _Pharos?'_ He called in his head.

' _Yes?'_

' _I don't think I ever got the chance to thank you.'_

' _Thank me?'_ Pharos sounded confused. _'Thank me for what?'_

' _For pulling me back into reality earlier,'_ Minato responded. _'Not once but twice did you save my life.'_

' _I apologize but that wasn't me.'_

' _What?'_ Now it was Minato's turn to sound confused.

' _Synchronization with your Persona results in a perfect harmony between said Persona and your mind and soul, effectively blocking any communication between all other external or internal entities. I thought that you knew this?'_

' _But if that wasn't you then…'_

' _Umm… hello?'_ A new voice spoke up.

Minato's body went deathly still. The new voice was recognized instantly but he had refused to turn around to face the owner. Besides Minato, Pharos materialized and gave him an amused grin.

' _Why hello there,'_ Pharos greeted. In front of him, but behind Minato, Hamuko made her way towards them.

' _Was it you that I was hearing in my head?'_ Hamuko asked. She approached Minato and walked around him to see his face.

Minato clicked his tongue in irritation and jerked his face downwards.

' _What the hell does she want?'_

"I can hear your thoughts?" Hamuko said in a whisper. "But how?"

"I do believe that would have to do with me." Pharos chimed in. "Consider me as a bridge that connects either of your minds to one another seamlessly, as I am after all, a bond that the two of you share."

"That's so…" Hamuko trailed off.

"So?" Pharos urged.

"That's so cool!" Hamuko bounced in place. "It's like talking to the team in Tartarus through Fuuka except it's not cause instead it's like a thought process that only you and I have and it's super special cause we're like the same person and oh my god, this is like the coolest thing ever!" She stopped to catch her breath. "Right?"

Minato could only stare, dumbfounded by Hamuko's excitement. His attention then turned to Pharos, who grabbed Hamuko's left hand and Minato's right hand, standing in between the two and giving them both an innocent smile.

"This could be fun… it'll be like we're all siblings despite you two being the same. This is something that humans like to pretend right?"

Hamuko put a hand to her chest in adoration.

Minato gave Pharos a half smile and closed his eyes in thought. No matter what, Pharos always had some way to wash away his worries.

"Well would you look at that?" Naoya said as he pulled Tatsuya and Yu close to his body. "They're like one big happy family… no scratch that, _we're_ like one big happy family."

"Family… it's good that they view each other as such. Anything else and Minato would have to deal with me," Yu said.

"You… do know that you're basically trying to get into the pants of a female version of Minato… right?" Naoya said.

"Female version… still doesn't make her actually Minato."

Tatsuya merely grunted and pulled out a lighter.

"Aw come on guys, I was just trying to lighten the mood," Naoya huffed as he pushed them away. "Oh wait, Yu, can you pass me the item bag?" Yu did as he was asked and tossed the bag of goods towards Naoya, watching as he zipped open the bag and stuck his head in.

"Infinite space was right, it's all black in here," Naoya's said while his voice was muffled from within the bag. "I don't know how they pull it off but in all my years in this line of work, I've learned not to question things."

"What are you looking for?" Yu asked.

"Y'know, maybe it's one of those kinds of things where I just think of what I want and then it'll just appear." Naoya took his head out of the bag and flipped it over, closing his eyes and scrunching up his face in deep thought. After a long while, twelve cans of food fell out of the item bag and onto the ground by his feet. "Ah-hah! Anybody up for some canned sausages and vegetables?"

* * *

Roughly twenty minutes later, the team was currently sitting on the ground in a circle consuming what they would call dinner.

Yu stood up, put his hand in the item bag and pulled out two sheathed swords strapped together. "This is yours Tatsuya," he said as he tossed the weapons to Tatsuya's side. He then pulled out a submachine gun and safely handed it to its owner, followed by him pulling out Naoya's sword and placing it by him. Finally, he flipped the bag over and shook it, letting two more swords and a pair of gauntlets and greaves fall to the ground. He picked up the weapons he identified as Minato's and tossed it towards him effortlessly, getting thanked via a complimentary nod and a quick 'Hmph'.

Besides Yu, Hamuko put her hand in her hair and took out the headband keeping her hair in a ponytail. She shook her head and let out a sigh of relief as she felt her hair flow down and rest on her shoulders.

Yu suddenly found it hard to breathe. _'Truly… a Goddess,'_ he thought as he chose not to resist the urge to stare at Hamuko.

"Yu? Is something wrong?" Hamuko asked as her face was painted with a worried expression.

"N-no Hamuko… everything is right."

"Umm… okay then?" Hamuko scooted a few inches away from Yu.

"So… who's turn is it for story time?" Naoya spoke.

"Story time?" Hamuko asked.

"Yup… first night as a team Minato gave us a little life story of his. Second night however, we were too tired from kicking so much ass that we all just fell asleep. This time, a story will be told. So who's it gonna be?" Not even a second passed before Naoya talked again. "No? Nobody? I guess it's up to me. Did I ever tell you guys about the time I saved Christmas?"

"I'll speak," Tatsuya interrupted. "In fact, I believe that this is long overdue."

"Nope too late, should've said somethin' when you had the chance," Naoya shot Tatsuya down.

"Naoya, shut up," Minato interjected.

"… Fine, I guess that anniversary special is gonna have to wait." Naoya's shoulders slumped forward and his all-around posture deteriorated on the spot.

Hamuko put a hand on Naoya's shoulder. "I wouldn't mind listening to your story, Naoya," she whispered to him, smiling when she saw Naoya's face light up.

"Tatsuya, if you will," Minato said.

Tatsuya nodded his head and leaned forward. "This… is the story of my innocent sin… and the eternal punishment I'm forced to face."

* * *

 **The reason why this chapter is shorter than the more recent ones is rather simple. There has honestly been so much fighting as of late that I figured a chapter without somebody getting their teeth kicked in was LONG overdue. I also wanted to create some dialogue with the team and Hamuko before any action went down. How are you guys liking her so far?**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Agendas**

 **RATHER IMPORTANT PSA: First off, there'll be no pairings in this story… I think. If there were, it would be SO minute, SO concealed that the only way to even remotely assume that there'd be a pairing would be by either my blatantly pointing it out, or with hints placed throughout the story. Subtlety is key after all…**

 **Sorry if anybody was hoping for some glaring pairings (I love rhyming things), but romance will not be the main subject of this story.**

 **NOT AS IMPORTANT PSA, BUT STILL SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT: So in chapter two, I wrote Naoya's age as twenty-three and having brown eyes which is completely wrong. After doing some math involving when each game takes place, Naoya's age should be roughly in his early thirties and his eyes are clearly a shade of purple. Therefore, I changed the line describing Naoya's age in Chapter 2 from twenty-three to thirty-four. Funnily enough, just after I noticed that error a reviewer under a guest account pointed it out… so props to Mr. Guest Reviewer.**

 **Yeah, that's enough PSAs for now I guess.**

 **-Reviews**

 **Rittie: For more information on Makoto Yuki, you're going to have to wait for a while… can't spoil anything (thought that's an interesting theory), and I'm also pleased to see that you're enjoying Hamuko as well as how the team has taken to her. As for pairings, refer to the above PSA.**

 **EternalCombOver: Oh trust me, I was not apologizing for the lack of fighting in the previous chapter. I didn't wanna burn anybody out with a surplus of beatdowns, and felt that a chapter without violence was best. And uh… I guess I did go a little too far with the fourth wall. I have a tendency to seize any opportunity that allows me to reference Dragonball… somethin' that I should not involve with this story (at least not too much).**

 **As for Minato, Hamuko and Pharos – well, specifically Minato's demeanor at the time – it's a good thing that you didn't find it very believable.**

 **Mocasiotorres27: Is my writing that bad that I have my readers creating their own stories to fill the gap in their minds? Or is it so good, that I have my readers trying to read in between the lines to find subtle answers to questions they might have? Ah well… we may never know. Oh, refer to the above PSA for pairings.**

 **NollyLyn: I'm honestly not sure how to respond to this one… I've never been this confused in my life… not that that's a bad thing though.**

 **Cosmic Sky: When it comes to Yu's 'sudden infatuation', just know that everything can and will have an explanation at some point… nothing goes without answers in this story.**

 **Nightly7: Wowzers, this is a long one! But I'm glad to see that you've caught up quickly (Heads up, if a question has an answer that'll spoil the story I'll unfortunately have to avoid answering it). Stay tuned to the story for your answer on the Wild Card first off. When it comes to character strengths, I cannot reveal who is the strongest… cause I'm not too sure myself (or am I?) I'm pretty sure I had somebody comment on Minato's height… or did I remove it? Hmm, if I did, rest assured knowing that nobody will skip out on an opportunity to jab at each other. Hohoho, hoping for Maya? That's a new one, not bad at all though, can't go wrong with her, but stick with the story. And uh… refer to the PSA for romance in this story. And I have been getting somewhat mixed responses when it has come to Naoya's character, I might potentially be forcing his comedic attitude too much onto everybody… I'm going to have to fix that.**

 **And trust me, this review in no way offended me. In fact, I was pleased to see how much effort you put into this. Any review with the intent to help improve the story is a good review in my book.**

 **Extraneous: Boy did I take my sweet time with this one. Sorry about that everybody, hehehe.**

 **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

"So this guy says: 'It is showtime! I'll make you dance… A dance of death!' Like, how cliché can you get?" Naoya said.

"And then what happened?" Hamuko asked. Besides her, Yu had been listening just as eagerly, despite having already listened to Naoya preach his story before.

"And then-" Naoya's story was interrupted yet again by Tatsuya.

"Another town," he announced. "And it isn't too far." Roughly eighty to ninety feet in front of them stood a group of buildings surrounding another potential town center.

"Hmm? That's what it looks like," Yu said.

' _I'm sensing a plethora of demonic activity in that area,'_ Elizabeth chimed in.

"Maybe we'll get to deal with something interesting this time," Minato said as he pounded his fists together. "The small number of enemies that do try and fight us aren't even worth our time."

The team had been on the move for a day and a half and had only stopped to rest through the night. The sun had reached the apex of its path in the sky, denoting that it was currently midday. Ever since they had begun to move again, any demons they would encounter would either be non-hostile or run away on sight of the team.

"I think that's a plus in my book," Naoya said. "Having only one person fight those things without breaking a sweat doesn't mess up our funky fresh flow."

"That would happen a lot whenever we'd be on the lower floors of Tartarus with weaker shadows," Hamuko commented. "Though I probably shouldn't use shadows as comparison cause these demons seem a bit… hardcore."

"Hey, Minato said the same thing about them," Yu commented. "Right, Minato?"

"Congratulations, you can remember things like a normal human can. Want a cookie for all that effort?"

"That doesn't matter right now, we need to continue moving," Tatsuya said, continuing towards the town at a quicker pace with the team following behind.

"Actually, wait a minute!" Naoya stopped everybody before turning to Hamuko. "I just realized that we've yet to see you fight, kiddo."

"Yeah, and?" Hamuko raised an eyebrow.

"And since we didn't do that thing with the Compendium and our Personas… what was it called again?"

"Registering your Personas in the Compendium," Yu answered.

"Right, what he said. Since that never happened, that would only mean that you only have access to one Persona right now… right?" Naoya asked.

"Uhh… yeah?"

"Well then, we're going to have to fix that aren't we?" Naoya thrusted his arm in front of him and opened him hand, closing his eyes and then focusing. Everybody save Tatsuya gave Naoya a look of utter confusion before four small Tarot cards appeared above his hand. Each of his Personae were on their respective cards as they lined up side by side. Naoya opened his eyes and flashed his teeth in a wide smile. "Alright now, go ahead and pick one!"

"Wait whoa, we can do that!?" Yu asked, nearly dumbstruck at what he just heard and witnessed.

"Of course we can," Tatsuya said as he stood next to Naoya and mimicked his actions, only more relaxed. "Choose whichever suits your tastes."

"Perhaps it could be due to the fact that our teammates weren't wild cards like us," Minato mused. "But that's a thought for another time," he stepped in between Naoya and Tatsuya. "Now how do you do this?"

"Ever dismiss a Persona?" Naoya asked, to which Minato nodded his head. "Good, do that for all of your Persona at the same time, except for the dismissing part."

"Okay then," Minato closed his eyes and focused, opening them again when he felt the warmth of the Tarot cards above his hand. "Well then, here's something I can use in the future."

Yu came up besides Tatsuya and did the same, grinning from ear to ear when he successfully pulled it off. "This is pretty cool."

Hamuko, who was dumbstruck the whole time finally came to her senses. "So I can just… pick whichever I want?"

"Yup, one each," Naoya assured.

"Um… okay then," Hamuko leaned in and eyed her choices. She tapped her finger against Naoya's Pyro Jack and shivered when she felt something enter her conscious. Naoya closed his hand and stepped back. Hamuko turned her gaze then turned her gaze to Minato, tapping Anzu's card and once again shivering. Tatsuya, deciding to pick for her, let every card vanish except for Titan.

"Have it," he offered, not moving when Hamuko touched Titan's card with glee.

"Looks like it's just me," Yu said. Hamuko eyed Yu's cards before her gaze fell on Izanagi.

"I'll take this one," Hamuko said as she pressed her finger against Izanagi's card. A small spark of electricity shot out and shocked Hamuko, prompting her to pull her finger back and grab it. "Ow!"

"That wasn't me I swear!" Yu pleaded as he pulled his hand back.

"Well if it wasn't you then what, pray tell, was it?" Minato asked with a smug expression.

"I don't know!" Yu's anger escalated quickly.

"Now, now you two let's not get violent," Naoya said as he waved his hands. "We've already had enough of that now haven't we? Let's look at this from a logical point of view." Naoya rubbed his chin in thought.

"If I recall correctly, Izanagi was Yu's first Persona, right?" Tatsuya began. When Yu nodded in approval, Tatsuya continued. "If that's the case, then perhaps that Persona is specially tied to him and him alone, therefore locking it in place. Nobody but him is able to use that Persona and if anybody tried to take it from him well… you saw it here first."

"I guess that explanation will suffice for now," Naoya said. "Although, we should ask Philemon about it next time we get to the Velvet Room."

"Here, Hamuko you can have this Persona," Yu said as he summoned Omoikane's card. "Sorry about what just happened."

"Don't worry about it," Hamuko said as she tapped Omoikane's card with her other finger. "It wasn't your fault."

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get moving," Tatsuya said as he turned around and walked, everybody else followed behind him.

' _This Tatsuya guy… is he the leader? Cause that's the kind of vibe I'm getting from him,'_ Hamuko asked Minato.

' _No, there is no leader in this little ragtag group of fighters… furthermore, something has come to my attention,'_ Minato replied.

' _And that is?'_

' _As nice as this little private chatroom we have in our heads is, I'm going to have to close it for now.'_

"And why's that?" Hamuko asked, covering her mouth with her hands when she realized she said it out loud.

"Is something the matter Hamuko?" Yu asked.

Hamuko removed her hands from her face and shook her head. "No, everything's alright… thanks for asking though." Yu simply waved her off before turning around. _'And why's that?'_

' _A shared thought process between only you and I could skew team morale in a direction that could prove unfavorable further down the line. The others are smart, no doubt, and therefore any private conversation between us will definitely generate negative suspicions within the team.'_

' _You don't trust them?'_

' _Don't put words in my… uh, head. I never said that I didn't trust them, I simply implied that any potential sources of suspicion can lead to a lack of trust_ from _them. Which is why from here on out, any conversation we have needs to remain on the physical plane.'_

' _I… guess I get what you're saying. Alright… so how do we separate our thoughts?'_

' _Right… Pharos, if you will?'_

' _Of course. Now, the only reason you two can share thoughts is because my own mind is the link between your own.'_ Pharos explained. _'By simply separating my mind from the both of yours and then remaining primarily with only one of you, both of your thoughts shall henceforth remain your own… This might hurt.'_

' _Wait, remaining primarily? Does that mean one of us won't be able to speak to you unless you either appear in the real world or-'_ Hamuko was interrupted.

' _Yes, and I've already decided that he should reside with you for the time being. Now Pharos, get it over with.'_ Once Pharos finished speaking, both Minato and Hamuko felt a sharp pain in their skulls for only the briefest of moments before it quickly subsided.

' _Can you hear me now?'_ Minato asked in his head. When he received no response, he chose not to resist the lopsided grin that arose on his face. _'Good, with her out of my head I can really start thinking now. Something about this girl, this… other me… tells me that she contains the answers I seek. Keep on her good side and eventually all might be revealed.'_

"Do you mind me asking about that weird term that you and Minato have been tossing around, Yu?" Naoya asked.

"What term?"

"Wild card… care to explain just what that is? Sounds like it might be important," Tatsuya's ears perked up, equally as curious as to just what a Wild Card is.

"You don't know what a Wild Card is? Despite being one?" Yu inquired.

"I don't recall signing up for this Wild Card fan club… you're gonna have to specify," Naoya said.

"The Wild Card, once the signing of a contract has occurred, is the ability to summon multiple Personae and switch between them during battle at ease, while similarly being able to turn the power of bonds into your own personal strength," Minato explained. "The part about bonds is what's known as a Social Link, something that you've heard me and Yu converse about before."

"I don't recall ever having something like that during my younger years," Tatsuya said. "Although it sounds like something that I couldn't have been bothered with."

"This Wild Card thing sounds overly glorified if you ask me," Naoya said. "With what you've just explained to me, I could basically classify my entire team as Wild Cards."

"Your whole team could use more than one Persona?" Hamuko asked.

"The Wild Card is a special ability only given to those with ties to the Velvet Room," Minato said. "And even then, access to the Velvet Room is a rarity in of itself."

"What the hell happened to this world to make the power of Persona so… uncommon?" Naoya asked. "Back in my day, everybody and their dead dog could use it… Hell, it practically reached the point to where it'd be considered weird if you _couldn't_ summon one. Did somebody fuck up somewhere down the line?"

He didn't notice Tatsuya's expression drop.

* * *

A little less than twenty minutes later and the team found themselves standing in the center of a roundabout, surrounded by a near endless amount of demons curiously staring at them.

"So am I the only one feelin' awkward here or…" Naoya trailed off as his fingers hovered over his gun.

Minato's eyes darted between each demon in his field of vision. "I wish they'd attack… I'm just itching to spill some blood." He licked his lips and curled his fingers.

"You and fighting… I swear you're as one-dimensional as they come," Tatsuya shot at Minato.

"No wait… guys look," Yu said. Around them, every demon turned their attention away from the team and went about their lives as if nothing had happened. A cacophony of uninteresting conversations filled the air as the team was left dumbfounded.

"I guess not," Minato sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"That was… new," Hamuko said, mimicking Minato's actions.

"It's probably for the better I'd say," Naoya said. "Five of us and a whole horde of them wouldn't bode well." He stepped back and took a seat on a broken fountain, crossing his legs and resting his head in his hand.

"Well whatever the case, what do we do now?" Yu asked. "Nothing here seems like it's trying to outright kill us so for now I guess we have nothing to worry about."

Just besides them, there was a dazzling flash of light that forced the team to cover their eyes before it vanished to reveal the Velvet Door.

"Well that's convenient," Hamuko said before walking to the door and opening it. "Come on guys, let's go."

"Nothing wrong with checking in," Minato said. With no disagreements to entering the Velvet Room, Hamuko held the door open for the rest of the team to enter before she went in herself.

A few feet away, a random demon rubbed his eyes furiously, swearing he just saw five humans vanish in a gust of blue butterflies.

"Hi everybody!" Naoya waved at the denizens as he hopped forwards and took his seat, the rest of the team following behind him with less vigor then him.

"How much distance have we closed between us and the next fragment Elizabeth?" Tatsuya asked.

"Approximately 73 miles," Elizabeth informed.

"We walk a whole lot faster than normal people," Minato mused. "Granted, we can do a whole lot more than normal people."

"Uh, fusing isn't really on the mind right now, but I think now's a good time as ever for our Personae to be registered," Yu said.

"I do believe you are right," Margaret said. "Elizabeth, if you would be so kind?"

"But of course," Elizabeth opened her compendium to a blank page.

"Alright so uh… how does this work?" Naoya inquired.

"Right, this is your first time, isn't it?" Hamuko chimed in. "Just relax, you don't have to do anything on your end."

"Is that so? I guess I can mark that as a plus," Tatsuya said.

"Let's just get this part over with," Minato said as he leaned back in his chair and yawned. In front of each guest, cards with their Persona on them appeared in a brief flash of light. A low hum filled the Velvet Room, attracting confused gazes from Naoya and Tatsuya, while the other three simply remained calm. Their Persona cards began to shake violently before exact replicas were formed besides them. The replica cards flew towards Elizabeth's compendium before resting on their own blank pages.

"Is that it?" Naoya asked.

"Yup, that's all there is to it," Yu responded. "Oh, another thing, Philemon… a little while ago-"

"Yes, I'm sure that you desire answers for what transpired between you and Hamuko when exchanging Personae, correct?" Philemon cut Yu off.

"Couldn't you have just let me finish?"

"Don't sweat it Yu, just go with the flow," Naoya said.

"Do you recall Tatsuya's theory on the matter?" Philemon asked. When Yu nodded his head, he continued without hesitation. "He couldn't have explained it any better than he had right then. However, there is more to it."

"There is?" Hamuko leaned forwards in her seat.

"While you are unable to exchange the Persona specifically tied to your heart, you are also unable to fuse it away," Philemon began. "While this sounds like it cannot be used in fusions, rest assured with the knowledge that it can still be used in the creation of stronger Personae."

"But even if it is used in fusions, it'll still be in our repertoire?" Minato finished for him.

"Yes, moreover, it will not count towards the maximum number of Personas that you can store within your soul at one point," Philemon continued.

"Huh, works for me," Hamuko hopped out of her seat and stretched her limbs despite being seated for no more than a few minutes. "I don't really have anything buggin' me right now, what about you guys?" She turned towards the team.

"Uhh, yeah I guess that'll do for now," Naoya said as he rose with Tatsuya and Yu.

"Well then, guess we'll see you guys later," Yu said as he started walking towards the door. "Come on Minato."

"You guys go on ahead, there's… something that I wanna deal with first," Minato said to the team without turning to face them. "It's nothing big… just something that'll potentially be aesthetically pleasing."

"If it involves your physical looks, you're gonna need a lot of work kid," Naoya joked. "Because boy are you—OW!"

Hamuko had kicked him in the shin. "Hey, that's me your talking about!"

"Relax Hamuko, Naoya's just joking with him," Yu said. "Besides, I personally do not share Naoya's opinion."

"You're trying too hard Casanova," Tatsuya said. "Minato, we'll meet you outside."

Without turning his head, Minato heard his teammates quickly leave the room. He successfully stifled a laugh when he heard Naoya voice his confusion over Tatsuya making a joke.

"Stop me if I am wrong," Elizabeth began. "But it would appear that the others are… growing on you."

"Theodore," Minato called out to the youngest of the siblings.

"How may I be of service?" Theodore asked.

"If Elizabeth is dealing with our shared compendium, and Margaret will be our residential weapons dealer… then I don't think I'm wrong in assume you'll be dealing with our clothing," Minato said.

"That is correct, yes," Theodore said. "Has something come up?"

"Yes, while I do enjoy these garments deeply, as they're from a close friend – hell, basically a relative – Hamuko's sudden addition to the team has helped me realize something."

"And that 'something' is?" Theodore asked.

"… It's helped me realize that you can't necessarily beat the classics," Minato began. "And, while these clothes do feel nice, it doesn't help remind me of those good ol' nostalgic battles. Basically, I want you to-"

"Mentioning Hamuko was more than enough to let me know what you wish for," Theodore said. "As you were once my sister's guest, I can use her assistance in creating what you desire."

"You sure you can do that 'Liz?" Minato asked as he turned towards Elizabeth.

"That is a simple task that you're requesting," Elizabeth responded.

"Good, I'll give you the payment when I see the final results," Minato said as he turned on his heel and walked towards the door. "Until then," he opened the door and left without another word, not bothering to look back at everybody waving him off, save Margaret.

"May I ask why you show such considerable animus towards my guest, dearest sister?" Elizabeth asked Margaret.

"I shall answer your question when you explain why you feel the same towards Theodore's own guest," Margaret responded calmly.

Elizabeth pouted. "My apologies."

Theodore frowned in disappointment, though he wasn't sure who it was aimed at.

Minato entered the world, immediately tuning in to the current conversation going on in front of him

"Hmm," Tatsuya took in their surroundings rather quickly. "For what's left of it, this place is rather large."

"Then I suggest we split up," Naoya said. "Five of us means we cover more ground quicker, and if things do end up goin' south, we're all just a quick cry for help away!"

' _Most every demon around you are either slightly or considerably weaker than each of you. Should they choose to combat you, no extra effort shall be required to emerge victorious.'_ Elizabeth said.

"See? We'll be fine, now run along kiddies," Naoya said as he motioned for everybody to break apart.

"Calling us kiddies makes you sound old Naoya," Yu pointed out.

"Does it? Whatever, doesn't matter right now. Look, we'll all meet back up here when it gets dark." Once he finished speaking, everybody else simply shrugged him off and began walking in different directions.

Yu stopped and turned towards Hamuko. "Hey Hamuko, maybe it'd be best if one of us went with you," he said.

"What makes you say that?" Hamuko asked.

"Well, considering that you haven't been here as long as we have, wouldn't it be wiser to have somebody akin to a guide with you?"

"A fine idea Yu. Which is why she'll be joining me for the time being," Minato interjected.

"She will?" Yu was shocked.

"I am?" Hamuko repeated.

"That sounds like a good idea," Naoya said. "It'd be a good opportunity for the two of you to get to know each other better… despite being the same person… I think?"

Minato and Yu met gazes. Neither them said a word and yet they both spoke volumes.

"Tch, whatever." Yu turned on his heel and left without another word.

"Oook?" Hamuko turned around to face Minato.

"Come along now Hamuko, I'm excited to hear about what life is like on your side of the neighborhood."

' _It would appear that Yu is trying to… oh, what was that saying again?'_ Pharos said,

' _Make a move on me?'_ Hamuko replied.

' _That's the one.'_

' _That much was obvious,'_ Hamuko sighed before looking at Naoya, who simply decided to wave at her. _'These guys are a weird change of pace from S.E.E.S. Not in a bad way, but definitely one that'll take some time to get used to.'_ She waved back at Naoya before following Minato down a rather busy street, leaving Naoya at the fountain.

Naoya waited until everybody was nearly out of sight before he sighed and relaxed his composure. His scratched the bridge of his nose before he tried to smooth his hair to the best of his ability. "Was it like this? No, maybe it was like… Argh! Whatever, I'm wasting time." He stood up, straightened his clothes and entered the Velvet Room.

"You've returned alone?" Margaret asked once Naoya entered.

"This is a personal matter… one that I wish to not reach the attention of the team until I'm ready to reveal it to them," Naoya replied, his voice entering a more serious octave than usual. "Philemon, I do recall us having a deal."

"Ah yes, I was beginning to wonder how long until you came to me for this," Philemon said.

"Well I'm here now, so please, I'd rather you not waste any of my time." Naoya discarded his weapons on the floor and then rubbed his left eye until it hurt. "I would also like to request that you notify me when an hour has passed outside."

"Very well." Philemon raised his left hand and snapped his fingers.

* * *

"Arisato…" Yu clenched his fist as he walked down his own path, gritting his teeth over what just happened. "Keeping him in line will be harder than I initially predicted. The same goes for the others." He hated when matters got out of hand without him realizing early enough. It was the sign of poor leadership, a low marking for him.

And he hated anything less than perfect.

"Naoya seems to be friendly enough for me not to worry about him. Tatsuya… his priorities are in check, but his emotions aren't. Arisato…" Yu trailed off. Minato so far proved to be Yu's complete opposite in almost every important department. Attitude. Battle Preferences. It would require extra effort from Yu to get Minato in check.

"Hamuko Yuki," Yu mumbled. It had been easy to notice Minato's flustered expressions when Hamuko's name was mentioned not too long ago, and his rather expeditious rehabilitation would not fool him so easily. One thing Yu's days in Inaba taught him was that woman were like wine. A fine delicacy no doubt, but easily attainable when the right techniques were used. Although Hamuko might be a different Minato, at the end of the day to Yu, she was still wine.

Hamuko was an option.

Hamuko was a tool.

' _No… I shouldn't think like that… it's unbecoming,'_ Yu thought. _'We may not be the greatest team, but with time that can be fixed. I'll just have to try my hardest to bring everybody together.'_

Yu turned his head to the right and spotted an open distillery, nearly filled to the brim with rowdy demons of many shapes and sizes, but generic looking enough to not merit his interest, getting drunk as if they had no shame.

' _Associating myself with them is beneath me. Although… I could go for a quick drink.'_ Fixing the item bag on his back, he smoothed his hair and made his way into the distillery. Almost immediately he was greeted by a cacophony of hurried whispers and an uneasy number of odd looks. Doing his best to ignore them all, he stepped towards the bar counter and took a seat.

"Wine," was all Yu said as he took the item bag off and stuck his hand in it. Pulling out shortly afterwards to drop a couple of coins on the counter.

The barkeep was a tall, slender man with a crown of white flowers atop his head. His skin was unnatural in the sense that it was covered in a canvas of multiple colors and hues appearing as if they had just been splatter painted on his body. A garland and pinecone thyrsus was hanging in front of his chest by a thin string around his neck and on his left shoulder was a long, silk red cloth. He was wiping off a wet wine glass when Yu had given him his request.

"Your money is no good here," the man said as he placed the wine glass on the counter.

"I apologize," Yu said as he retrieved the coins and placed them in his pants pocket. "With that notion, I assume neither is my presence."

"Hardly, no money is good here my child. Here," the man poured Yu's wine and pushed the glass his way. "This here is some of the finest wine in all of the land, it would be disgraceful not to share it with… interesting company."

"Hm, well than thank you for your hospitality," Yu grabbed the wine glass and took a sip, relaxing the moment the sweet nectar came into contact with his taste buds. He placed the wine glass back down and let out a long sigh. "May I ask for your name?"

"Dionysus, and yours?"

At that question, Yu extended his arm for a formal handshake. "Yu Narukami, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I recall reading tales about you in me free time."

Dionysus met Yu's handshake with noble fervor. "The pleasure is mine, I do hope those tales were all promising, I have a reputation to keep after all."

"You needn't worry; they were all very interesting reads. May I ask why you don't take money here?" Yu sloshed the wine in his glass as he asked.

"Money is but a materialistic thing, one that has no value in higher forms of living. I do this simply for the joy of observing the ecstasy that my patrons drown in."

"Drowning in ecstasy sounds rather undesirable if I do say so myself," Yu mused as he took another sip. _'This wine is transcendent, far superior than anything I've ever had before.'_

"Well I invite you to try it before you disown the opportunity," Dionysus poured more wine into Yu's glass, filling it to the brim with a smile.

That was when a large muscular demon slammed his fist on the counter besides Yu and leaned in close. "What the hell is a human doin' in these parts?" He slurred. Yu fought the urge to cover his nose in order to fight the putrid scent of his breath. "Oi, how does it feel ta be the last of yur kind? Maybe ya want me ta kill ya right now, so ya can join the rest of those flimsy humans!"

"I am drinking a glass of wine," Yu said as he sipped his wine. "I ask that you do not interrupt me with mindless banter such as yours."

"You tryin' ta sound smart!? I'll grind yur bones between my teeth!" The demon lifted both hands into the air and slammed them down on Yu's position, completely destroying his seat and producing a small cloud of dust.

Dionysus put a hand to his mouth in shock.

"Eh!? Where'd he run off too!?" The demon turned his head to the sound of feet landing softly on the counter. He rose his head his and growled at the sight of Yu once again sipping his wine.

"Sloppy," Yu mocked. "At least we know the style matches the appearance."

"What'd you say!?"

Yu felt light-headed and his muscles felt more loose. _'I feel… different… but different in a good way.'_

"Oi! This human looks like he'll be a bit of fun!" One demon barked out from the back. At that moment, every other demon in the distillery yelled in agreement and rose from their seats simultaneously.

"Let's make this interesting shall we?" Yu said. "I need a way to get north and what better idea than to invest in a demon-drawn carriage." Yu felt his normal, calm demeanor slipping to reveal a competitive, proud attitude.

"What're ya tryin' ta say!?" Another demon yelled.

"While at the same time, you all seem to want to watch me get torn to shreds, no?" Yu smiled. "Then here's the deal, if I manage to take you all down without spilling even a drop of this wine, then one of you shall provide me a ride to my destination. However, if I get touched or spill a single drop of this wine… then my body is yours to do as you wish. Do we have a deal?"

"Hey, this is better than that place owned by that bitch in Ginza!" A cacophony of excited roars followed in suite, cementing Yu's offer in place.

"Well then… let's drown in ecstasy, shall we?"

* * *

' _ **Tatsuya, Tatsuya, Tatsuya… just what AM**_ _**I going to do with you?'**_

Tatsuya felt something leave his body and then groaned when he saw his shadow take shape in front of him. Trying his best to keep his composure, Tatsuya merely walked past him and didn't stop, going from casually strolling to power walking.

' _Just ignore him… keep moving, keep moving, keep moving,'_ Tatsuya repeated those words like a mantra in his head as he walked down the busy street. His eyes darted to the various demons making their way towards and away from him, some giving Tatsuya a passing glance while others merely paid him no mind. Tatsuya's eyes drift towards some rundown store, and felt his face drop when he saw his shadow leaning against a wall.

' _ **Ignoring me, while momentarily gifting you respite, shall not keep us apart,'**_ Shadow Tatsuya mocked. Tatsuya gritted his teeth and repeated his previous mantra, almost bumping into a few demons as he recklessly pushed forward.

' _ **You gave a portion of your power to your enemy Tatsuya… that's below you and you know it.'**_ Tatsuya craned his neck upwards and saw his shadow sitting on the edge of a rooftop, looking down on him with a sinister grin. Tatsuya shook his head and pressed on, his power walk escalated into a jog.

' _ **You act as if you fear me when before, you simply disdained my existence Tatsuya. One can only imagine how much my presence has altered your state of mind,'**_ Shadow Tatsuya mused. Tatsuya kept jogging, this time actually colliding into a few demons that crossed his path, earning him a couple of foul mouthed comments and death threats. _**'Has your mind decayed to the point of hearing voices other than mine?'**_

Tatsuya's jog was halted by eerie whispers that danced around his mind. Some were fast and incoherent, making him scrunch up his face as he attempted to make out what the whispers were. Others were slow and loud, screams of agony filled his head and prompted him to go from a jog to a full on sprint.

' _ **Or rather… are you beginning to view the world that you truly belong in?'**_ Tatsuya ran into something that he previously didn't see. He hit the ground and rubbed his head in pain, gritting his teeth over being knocked down. When he looked up, he widened his eyes at the sight of multiple instances of his shadow staring down at him. Tatsuya quickly rose to his feet and took a step back, his breath coming out staggered as he saw the horrors around him.

The remnants of the city he had just been in were now ablaze and shrill cries of terror had reached his ears. He spun around and caught sight of even more of his shadows in his field of vision, either slaughtering demons or slowly making their way towards him. Tatsuya stepped backwards and felt his back press against something.

 _ **'Why, Tatsuya? Why are you so afraid of the truth? Embrace it. Glorify it. Create it.'**_

"That's enough!" Tatsuya turned around and pushed off of his shadow, falling down and hitting his head once again on the pavement. This time however, looked up, everything was back to normal, save the confused glares of the surrounding demons. He quickly rose to his feet and continued his sprint, this time not sparing a passing glance at his shadow each time it appeared to spite him.

' _ **Still trying to escape from that which shall remain within you? To think that my other half is this foolish…'**_ Tatsuya didn't stop.

' _ **Tatsuya, I'm only here for your benefit, why do you continue to run?'**_ Tatsuya's eyes fell upon a subway entrance and he quickly ran down the steps, tripping and falling into a roll at the bottom. When he recovered, he found himself in an underground mall. The lighting was dim, but he could still see down each hall completely fine. The floors were made of glossy white tiles that looked like they had been recently buffed cause Tatsuya was reflected perfectly on them.

Tatsuya heard a faint humming in the distance and chose to follow it, curious as to what the source was. His shadow had oddly fell silent, giving him some respite for the moment. As he wandered the empty halls, the humming grew louder, denoting how close he was to the source. After a few minutes, he his eyes fell on a door with a neon blue design on it. In the center was a bright medical cross that pulsed periodically with bright chains shooting out from it. Tatsuya pressed his hands against it and felt an odd warmth, pushing the door open and stepping through.

The room he entered was dark, the only light coming from the back of the room. There was a woman wearing nothing but a long cloth over her face that extended down to her back, floating above a tiny rock formation in the center of a small body of water. Her posture denoted that she was presumably meditating before Tatsuya had entered, and he was about to leave when the woman spoke.

"Welcome to the Fountain of Life," she whispered so quietly that Tatsuya almost didn't hear her. "Tell me your name."

"My name is… Tatsuya Suou," Tatsuya said.

"I am the Lady of the Fount," she responded. "I can sense an unimaginable darkness within your heart, and while you fight valiantly against it… you can feel yourself slipping with each passing second."

' _How did she know that?'_ Tatsuya asked himself.

"All who enter my domain are subject to my omniscient eyes," the Lady answered Tatsuya, only feeding his curiosity.

"Okay then," Tatsuya began. "What do you suppose I do with this darkness?"

"When all is said and done, only you have the answer to that question," the Lady explained. "However, I can help you begin your journey down the path of cleansing."

Tatsuya's breath was caught in his throat. Something scratched at the back of his mind, urging him not to trust her words. _'She doesn't look like she has any negative intentions, and yet…'_

"Do not be alarmed Tatsuya," she assured. "I have assisted many wounded souls in my lifetime and yours is no different."

"How can I-"

' _ **Do not trust her Tatsuya! She plans to weaken you!'**_ His shadow warned from within. His incessant barking gave Tatsuya enough motivation to trust the Lady of the Fount.

"Normally, I would require payment, but for just this once, I shall make an exception," the Lady said.

"Thank you," Tatsuya replied. "Now, what do I do?"

"Step into the water," Tatsuya did as commanded, stepping into the ankle high water. It was warm as it seeped through his pants and came into contact with his skin. "Now, close your eyes and focus on what it is that gives you pause."

Tatsuya's face scrunched up and he began to look deep into his soul, trying to create an image within the blankness of his mindscape. In less than a few seconds, he found himself in a dark, silent void. Then Shadow Tatsuya came into view, wearing a shit eating grin as he crossed his arms.

' _ **We meet here again Tatsuya, care for another sweet dream? Courtesy of me, of course.'**_

Nightmares. They were all nightmares. Ever since his fight with Minato, Tatsuya's slumber has been haunted by constant nightmares of him murdering the team in cold blood, or horrible realities of him slaughtering his old team from the Other Side with no remorse. His most recent nightmare involved the moon falling from the sky, and everybody he held dear to him had died immediately, leaving just him on the Earth as the lone survivor.

The first night… he had woken up with his sword in hand, hovering above Naoya's body.

"Now, focus on what it is that you truly care about," the Lady instructed. Tatsuya did as he was told and tried to conjure up an image of just that.

In his perspective, Shadow Tatsuya took a step back in shock as he caught sight of something appearing behind Tatsuya's body.

' _ **Tatsuya you lie! You care about nothing… especially not them!'**_

"Now, with the weight of those on your shoulders," the Lady began. "Charge forward and confront the darkness however you see fit."

"Ironic how you consider yourself me and yet you know nothing about what I hold dear to me," Tatsuya mused as he felt hands on his shoulders. He opened his own hands and felt his swords materialize in them, gripping the hilts with all of his might. "Now… we begin."

Within the Fountain of Life, Tatsuya's body suddenly sunk into the water.

* * *

"This place could use a little sprucing up," Minato commented. He and Hamuko were currently browsing through the inventory of a small, rundown item shop a few blocks away from where the team had separated. Aside from them, the shop was bountiful in visitors, making the breathing room rather lacking and the noise levels rather irritating.

Besides Minato, Hamuko tapped on her lips with her finger as she eyed a large assortment of jewelry on the dirty shelf in front of her. Minato dragged his index finger along a nearby wall and blew a rather unpleasant amount of dust off of his finger, sighing in boredom and scratching his nose. "Hamuko tell me something."

Hamuko pulled a handful of rings from the shelf and turned her attention to Minato. "Hmm?"

"The name Sakuya Shiomi… does it mean anything to you?" Minato asked. His head was turned to the side so the bangs covering the left side of his face was all that Hamuko could see.

"Yeah, that's… dad's name, why?" Hamuko shot Minato a questioning glare, but seeing through his bangs, Minato could tell that there was a small hint of annoyance hidden in her expression.

' _She tries to hide it… but I can tell that I struck a nerve,'_ Minato thought. _'By now, Pharos should be at the deepest sanctums of her memories… all I need to do is keep her focused on me so she won't notice him.'_ Minato cleared his throat and turned to face her. "I'm sorry it's just… ever since that car crash on the Moonlight Bridge I… sometimes find it hard to remember the name of my parent's. Rather, I should be calling them _our_ parents since we are one and the same, no?"

"Where are you going with this?" Hamuko asked.

"Nowhere just, having somebody other than me… or in this case, another me… remind me of my father's name somehow eases my heart a little," Minato explained.

Hamuko relaxed and rubbed her right arm. "I… guess I can understand where you're coming from. I mean, of course I should… I am you, aren't I?" She giggled awkwardly. "During the more hectic nights in Tartarus, I would always take a break and ask for help from mom and dad… despite knowing that I won't really get an answer back. The team would often look at me weird and leave me wondering whether or not I should even be doing that… but in the end I feel like it's the last thing keeping mom and dad in my heart after all these years."

Minato inwardly cringed over Hamuko's heartfelt confession. "Look… if you ever have anything you want to talk about, I'm here for you, alright?" He placed a gentle hand on Hamuko's shoulder and gave her a warm smile. _'Nothing like a little misdirection to get the job done.'_

"Of course… who better to trust than myself, right?"

"Exactly," Minato turned his gaze to the rings in Hamuko's hand and frowned. "It's a shame that we didn't decide to borrow some money from the bag… I wonder how we're going to pay for all of this."

Hamuko looked past Minato and grinned mischievously. "I think I've got an idea," Hamuko whispered.

"Oh? Do tell," Minato urged as Hamuko walked past him. She pocketed all of the rings except one and held it at the edge of her thumb while letting it lean on her bent index finger. She closed her left eye and widened her right one as she aimed her right hand at a demon about to exit the store. She stuck out her tongue and flicked the ring with enough force and precision to land on the demon's head just as he stepped out.

"3…2…1," Hamuko counted down. The moment she finished, she heard the yelling of the large, bulky store owner.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're goin' with that ring right there!? I don't recall you payin' for that!" He barked out.

The demon by the door turned around and shot the store owner a furious glare. "What the hell are you talkin' about!? I ain't take no ring, and I'll be damned before somebody as ugly as you calls me some sorta thief!"

"You wanna say that again!?" The store owner hopped over the counter and rushed at the other demon with murderous intent.

Hamuko motioned for Minato to follow her out of the store while everybody else was distracted. "Color me impressed," Minato complimented as they began walking down the street. "That was some quick thinking on your part."

Hamuko shot Minato a sly grin before leaning in close. "Nothing like a little misdirection to get the job done," she whispered in his ear. Minato ceased his walking as his breath got caught in his throat. Hamuko had started walking ahead with her hands behind her back, looking as innocent as she could.

"H-How the…" Minato shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No… it was just a coincidence… just a coincidence."

* * *

The team had all gathered back at the broken fountain during sunset.

"Did you guys know that there's a bathhouse here!?" Naoya asked as he waved his hands around. "It's gorgeous and the service… it's out of this world! I haven't felt this good in ages… not to sound old or anything, haha."

"Can you try not to yell, Naoya?" Yu asked as he drank from a medicine bottle. "I've got what feels like a skull splitting headache and loud noises aren't helping in the slightest."

"And just what were you doing to get a headache that bad?" Naoya poked Yu in the chest before his hand was slapped away.

"Enjoying the festivities… which reminds me," Yu began. "I managed to snag us a ride up north… we'll have to be at the local distillery tonight though."

"There's a distillery here?" Naoya asked.

"Were you hoping for a late night drink?" Tatsuya asked.

"I'll have you know that-" Naoya did a double take and narrowed his eyes at Tatsuya. It wasn't blatantly visible, but Naoya could tell that Tatsuya had done some personal growing on his end. "Somethin' about you seems… different Tatsuya," Naoya feigned ignorance. _'Although… in the long run, his answer might not have been the correct one.'_

"Don't strain yourself over it," Tatsuya said. "We all know you have trouble trying to wrap your head around the simplest of problems."

"Haha, very funny," Naoya replied sarcastically. "Anyways, what about you two, do anything fun?" He asked Hamuko and Minato.

"Oh, we just did a little shopping downtown," Hamuko said as she pulled out the rings she took from the store. "I recognize these rings from when I would purchase them back in Iwatodai," Hamuko explained. "While I can't specify exactly what they do… I do know that they'll give us a little boost in battle." She handed out the rings to everybody and them placed one on her own finger.

"Wait, I had the bag… so how did you pay for these?" Yu asked.

"I don't condone stealing little lady," Naoya scolded Hamuko as he wagged his finger. "But… this ring sure is pretty… so I guess I'll turn a blind eye to it… just this once."

"Hey… did you see that weird thing in the mall down there?" Everybody's ears perked up at the sound of a conversation not too far away. "Just next to that room with owned by the Lady of the Fount."

"Yeah… looked like some overgrown barrel to me… but it was givin' me some weird vibe."

"What's that sayin' that's been floatin' around with the killed cat? Ah, whatever… I'm staying away from it."

"Yeah… me too."

"This has piqued my interest," Minato mused.

"Next to the room owned by the Lady of the Fount," Tatsuya rubbed his chin. "I know where that's at if you're all willing to go."

"I don't see why not," Hamuko said.

"Well gang, sounds like we've got a mystery on our hands," Naoya chimed.

After following Tatsuya, the team found themselves standing in front of a door with an unlit symbol on it. The symbol bore a resemblance to a cylinder, with an intricate design of chains flowing from it.

"Is this the place?" Naoya asked.

"It has to be," Tatsuya said. "I'm sure of it."

"Well then let's not keep the suspense building," Yu said as he pushed the door open, entering with the rest of the team behind him. The room was completely empty, save for a gray barrel adorned with intricate writing atop a stand.

"Elizabeth, mind informing us what this is?" Minato requested.

' _Informing you of what?'_

"What do you mean 'what'?" Hamuko's confused voice asked.

"Informing us of what's directly in front of us," Naoya said.

' _I apologize, but I do not sense anything else in the room aside from you,'_ Elizabeth said.

"Well that's weird," Yu said as he admired the barrel from a distance. "Anybody else getting that weird vibe those demons talked about?"

"No."

"Nuh-uh."

"Nothing."

"Not a damn thing," Naoya said as he leaned in close. "Dumb thing must be a hunk of junk after all," he said as he slapped the barrel.

Almost immediately, the writing on the barrel lit up with an eerie red lighting and the room began to rumble violently, almost making the team lose their balance.

"Naoya!" Tatsuya yelled.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Naoya pleaded as he fell on his back.

Ethereal symbols burst from the barrel as it began to rotate faster than anybody could keep up with. Still in disbelief, the bodies of every teammate began to become ethereal and stretch towards the barrel until the room was covered in a bright red light.

When the light had faded, the team was gone.

* * *

 **I update at the most unorthodox of times, don't I?**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Incertitude**

 **-Reviews**

 **jason wu: Ouch, that wouldn't be very nice of them now would it?**

 **mehh: Hohoho, all shall be revealed in due time my friend. Everything shall bask in the full light of truth. Also, thank you for pointing out that error.**

 **Tetsuya Silverstar: Glad to hear that you're liking Hamuko. When it comes to underage drinking and Yu, back on his field trip to Tatsumi Port Island (assuming you've played Persona 4), I don't think he automatically knew that the drinks he had were non-alcoholic when he first downed them. So by principle, he should already have a bad mark, hehe.**

 **EternalCombOver: Nothing like a good night out on the town to ease the mind, right? And I'm glad somebody caught the references, considering how glaring I tried to make them. And thank you.**

 **mocasiotorres27: Thank you, thank you!**

 **Cosmic Sky: Does nobody remember the King's Game or do they just give Yu a free pass because the drinks were revealed to be non-alcoholic? Odd hearing that Naoya is viewed as a father figure when earlier he was viewed as a goofy older brother. Thanks for the love.**

 **Rittie: When it comes to this story, it's best to expect the unexpected. Fret not, I won't spill the beans, but be very aware that this story is not without its spoilers. And trust me, character development is a thing that I am knowledgeable in (just not that good at executing… Hehehe).**

 **Nightly7: He was over there for a while, a lot could've happened to give him PTSD. Everyone's favorite bastard making a return? Who knows, I'm not even sure myself. Thank you.**

 **NollyLvn: With Tatsuya's mother almost never being mentioned, I could only assume it was his father who would have to give him advice on the real world. Given that he was imprisoned and Tatsuya had a rather estranged relationship with his big bro… it'd be a miracle if he knew to look both ways before crossing the street. Whoops, hehe, sorry about messin' up on your name there.**

 **Extraneous: And the addition of this chapter brings this story to 100k+ words... I really should be shortening these chapters. Moreover, this story has reached over 60 follows. I can't thank you guys enough for the love and support you give this story, seriously, thank you all!**

 **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

" **So they've fallen into the Amala Network itself?"** Nyarlathotep leaned forward in his throne and rubbed his chin. **"I say, this is a rather peculiar turn of events."**

"What do you suppose we do?" One of the hooded men asked. Besides him, the other three remained still.

Nyarlathotep sighed as he leaned back. **"Hmm, the Amala Network is home to demons that are far more powerful than any they've faced up until now,"** Nyarlathotep said. **"To simply leave them in there would be the equivalent to letting them dig their own graves."**

"In a sense… are they not recusants, Master Nyarlathotep?" Another one asked. "Would that not be a favorable outcome?"

" **That is what they think… but on the contrary, they are only feeding the flames of my imminent victory,** " Nyarlathotep explained. **"Which is why I need them alive until they grow strong enough to create the key to my accomplishment."**

"But you've placed this world under your ruling, have you not already won?"

" **The world bowing to my might is a delight in of itself,"** Nyarlathotep said. **"But that is only the beginning; they must grow stronger in order for my plans to truly succeed."**

"So shall you create a pathway out of the network for them?"

" **No… I've a better idea,"** Nyarlathotep raised a finger in the air before pointing to the hooded man farthest to the left. **"The labyrinth they're trapped in right now is a shortcut leading directly to the home of the next fragment. I want you to enter the network and make sure they make it out alive."**

The hooded man bowed. "As you wish."

" **Good,"** Nyarlathotep snapped his fingers and generated a dark portal besides his subordinate. He watched as he entered without another word. Nyarlathotep rested his head on his palm. **"You have grown silent,"** he murmured. **"I wonder… have I broken you?** "

"Master?"

" **The rest of you, leave my sight."** The remaining hooded men left quickly, turning their backs to Nyarlathotep and walking down a dark hallway.

* * *

The team materialized in midair, and immediately fell the short distance towards the floor.

Everybody landed on their feet and immediately drew their weapons in caution.

"Is everybody all right?" Tatsuya asked.

"No missing limbs here," Hamuko answered as her fingers rubbed along the shaft of her naginata.

"Where the hell are we?" Yu asked as he tried to cease the trembling in his legs. The walls were made up of tiles that seemed to be crafted by a thick material almost akin to marble, reaching heights far beyond his vision. The floor seemed to be glass because Yu was able to see streaks of some red energy flowing beneath his feet at a hurried pace. The hall they were in was giving him an unsettling feeling in his gut and he was willing to bet it was doing the same to the others.

"We're not in Kansas… that's for sure," Naoya remarked.

"Elizabeth I do hope you have some good news for us," Minato said.

' _You've f- -la Ne-,'_ Elizabeth's voice faded in and out. _'I am cu- -pe. Po- -ea, yo- -mbat!'_

"What's going on?" Hamuko's voice hinted at fear and confusion, with a pinch of annoyance.

"Either we've got bad reception or Philemon forgot to pay his phone bill," Naoya joked.

"Not now Naoya," Tatsuya warned. "This isn't the time or the place for jokes."

"Besides, quips about utilities are never funny," Minato mused.

' _Says the walking doorknob… no wait I already used that one… something else, something else…!'_ Naoya thought. "Uh… w-well… you're short!"

Minato deadpanned. "If anything, I'm offended at how bad that was executed."

"You better shut up before I accidentally step on you," Naoya threatened.

"Oh boy, I'm quivering in my shoes," Minato teased.

Hamuko stepped in between them. "Come on now guys, now isn't the time for senseless arguing," she said. "Save it for when we have free time or something."

"Fine, fine, everybody come close," Naoya motioned with his hands for the team to huddle around him, which they did without complaint. "Remembered this trick not too long ago," he clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

"I get the feeling that we shouldn't be near you," Yu mumbled.

"Nonsense… I'll get us out of here before you even know it," Naoya assured. He crushed a Tarot card and then flashed his teeth in a wide grin. "Traesto!"

"Good job Naoya, this should get us out of here," Tatsuya praised as he rolled his shoulders.

"Yeah well… I'm just your local everyman," Naoya remarked before the team was engulfed in a dazzling flash of light. It lingered for a long while before it dissipated into motes of light, revealing the team remaining where they had stood before Naoya activated his spell. "Wha—Huh—Wait… that wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Of course not… you just suck," Minato said before stifling a laugh.

"That's not very nice," Hamuko said before rubbing Naoya on the back. "You tried and that's all that matters."

"Hehe, in a situation like this… I think succeeding is what'll really count in the end… but thanks anyways," Naoya muttered.

Yu fished out a Traesto Gem and crushed it. "Good thing we've got these though," everybody grouped around Yu in the hopes that they'll actually get transported out of there.

But the same thing happened.

"I don't get it, that was supposed to work!" Yu shouted before pinching the bridge of his nose. _'Stay calm… keep a level-head and everything will work itself out.'_

"Trying again will only be a waste of our resources," Tatsuya commented before he started to walk ahead. "And waiting here will net us nothing, we need to move if we have any hope of getting out of here."

"Better get to exploring then," Naoya clenched his fist. "Stay frosty everybody, opposition could come when we least expect it." He followed behind Tatsuya with Yu in tow, leaving Hamuko and Minato to bring up the rear.

Minato tapped on Hamuko's shoulder and then tapped on his head when he got her attention, symbolling that he wanted Pharos' attention.

' _Pharos… didja catch that?'_ Hamuko mentally asked. She saw Pharos appear in front of her before he turned into a wisp of smoke, seeping into Minato's skin. "He's all yours, Minato," Hamuko said before jogging to catch up with the rest of the team.

' _How did your expedition go, Pharos?'_ Minato asked as he began moving to keep up. _'Good news is so hard to come by nowadays, so I'll be more than pleased if I'm given exactly that.'_

' _My apologies, but the inner machinations of her mind are almost a one-to-one copy of yours,'_ Pharos responded. _'However, there was one glaring difference that I did take note of.'_

' _Oh? Do keep from leaving me hanging Pharos, I've been called an impatient man on more than one occasion.'_

' _Of course,'_ Pharos was hesitant in speaking again. _'There was a door within her mind, it was at the forefront of memories so I can assume that it was either prioritized or a completely fresh set of memories.'_

' _What pray tell is so important about this door that it merits a debriefing?'_

' _This door… unlike the rest… was completely barred from the outside,'_ Pharos explained. _'Each and every entrance to a different set of memories were practically available for one to poke their heads in and take a good look. But this one… there was nothing within my power that granted me access.'_

Minato stopped when he almost bumped into Tatsuya. _'That's peculiar… but promising nonetheless. I guess we won't call this mission a total failure, just one that could've yielded better results.'_

' _There is one more thing,'_ Pharos began. _'I do beg that you don't take this the wrong way but… it would appear that her affinity with me is, slightly superior to your own.'_

' _And how is that?'_ Minato asked, only slightly paying attention to the conversation in front of him. _'Any information can prove to be useful in the future.'_

' _She was able to momentarily recreate the link between the three of us not too long ago, giving her the ability to hear your thoughts for a brief moment before the link faded.'_

' _What? How is that possible!?'_

' _That answer eludes even me,'_ Pharos said hesitantly. _'For now… we can only wait for a chance to find out more.'_

' _Yes… right now isn't the best time to linger on something like that.'_

"I'm getting some nasty vibes from this place," Naoya said. "It's making my trigger-finger all itchy."

"So long as your aim with your gun remains true… everything should be under control," Tatsuya assured Naoya. "For now, we stick together… we move as a team, we fight as a team, we decide as a team."

"Of course," Yu said. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"All right, Tatsuya!" Naoya exclaimed. "I'm liking you a whole lot more without all of that 'I'll leave you all behind if you hold me back' talk," Naoya deepened his voice in an attempt to imitate Tatsuya.

"Shut up Naoya," Tatsuya spat.

"There it is."

Hamuko pursed her lips. "So then… let's get moving," she said before tapping her naginata on the ground twice.

"I second that motion," Naoya said. "I've got a feeling that there shouldn't be anything we can't handle." Everybody exchanged brief glances of determination before beginning the potentially arduous trek into the unknown.

* * *

"This does not bode well," Elizabeth said as she glanced towards Philemon. "Master, what shall you suggest."

"Retrieving our guests from the Amala Network is but a simple task for us, Elizabeth," Margaret said as she placed her own compendium on the table and opened it to a blank page. "Come, Elizabeth, Theodore, join hands."

"May I inquire as to why?" Theodore asked as he clasped his left hand with Margaret's right, and his right hand with Elizabeth's left.

"Using our combined powers, we are going to temporarily open a gate into the Amala Network for them to pass through," Margaret explained.

"Splendid idea Margaret," Igor praised. "Time is of the essence however, and a technique of this caliber shall not occur instantaneously."

"Of course," Margaret said. The siblings tightened their grips on each other's hands. "We need to work fast while remaining as efficient as possible."

Meanwhile, back in the Amala Network, the team had found themselves in an unfavorable situation.

"This is EVERYTHING we can't handle!" Naoya screamed as he sprayed a barrage of bullets at eight demons that currently barred their path. They had the body structure of large wolves with almost windswept fur, practically appearing like large wisps as they darted lunged in unpredictable patterns.

Yu was pinned by one and used his sword to keep its face at bay as it tried to rip his head off. "I could use some help here!"

"See, this is why I prefer domesticated dogs," Minato said as he narrowly sidestepped a lunge and summoned Ari Mitama for a Sukukaja. He rushed at the demon pinning Yu down and hit it with a strong shoulder tackle, freeing Yu from beneath it and creating some space.

Hamuko was keeping two at bay with distanced strikes with her naginata, although each attack seemed to have little to no effect on them. "This is getting me nowhere," she complained as she pulled out her Evoker and pressed it against her right temple. "Orpheus!" She called out as she pulled the trigger. Her head jerked to the side as the sound of glass shattering filled the area. While Hamuko's Orpheus and Minato's Orpheus shared numerous similarities, their few differences that set them apart were glaring. Where Minato's Orpheus had short white hair, Hamuko's had long, flowing, brown hair that reached just below her shoulders. The skin on her face was white as opposed to the black skin Minato's Orpheus had, with her torso being golden instead of green. The lyre on her back was in the shape of a heart as opposed to the generic lyre that Minato's Orpheus owned. "Agi!" She ordered, prompting Orpheus to string her lyre and shoot a small fireball at one of the demons. They hopped out of the way, easily avoiding the Agi and quickly irritating Hamuko.

"We need to find an opening for escape," Tatsuya said as he quickly sidestepped a lunge. "These Fenrirs are too much for us right now."

"Fenrir! That's their name!" Naoya yelled. "And easier said than done Tatsuya, they've got us locked down!" Naoya was turned his head to the side and saw Yu and Minato surrounded. "Well, whatever you come up with, it'll have to be soon because I don't think we're gonna last much longer."

"Do you have anything up your sleeve?" Yu asked as he found himself back to back with Minato.

"Good news," Minato said. "I actually do." _'A few practice killings against those demons the past two days have given me a slight boost in strength… let's test it out.'_ He crushed a Tarot Card and summoned hunched forwards. "Orpheus! Guren-" an unidentifiable noise in the distance caught his attention and he ceased his attack.

Each Fenrir that had attacked the group turned their gaze in the direction the noise came from and without hesitation, ran towards it as a pack, leaving the team dumbfounded over their sudden change of face.

"Well damn, there goes that opportunity," Minato said. "Always next time, I guess."

"What do you think caught their attention?" Hamuko asked.

A cacophony of loud snarls and pained howls tore through the air, startling the team for a brief moment. The amount of snarling seemed to die down as the number of pained howls seemed to increase before all noise died down permanently.

"Something that we don't want noticing our presence," Tatsuya said.

"Better hurry up and get out of here," Yu said, quickly turning on his heel and motioning for everybody to do the same.

Everybody followed without hesitation, except Naoya, who lingered for a brief moment. He touched the side of his face and pouted his lips. He shook his head and turned around, breaking into a jog to catch up with the team.

A great deal of time passed without the team being ambushed by anything that eclipsed their strength.

They came to a fork in the road, with both options being too dark to see all the way down.

"Which way is the right way?" Tatsuya pondered aloud.

Naoya pushed past him and began walking down the right hallway. "It's time I give you guys some insight on traversing labyrinths. Whenever you're given the option of just two halls, you always go for the right hall. Simply because the _right_ way is always the _RIGHT_ way," he explained. "Haha, this reminds me of that one time where I was warped into a different dimension and my school was transformed into this maze straight out of hell…" he lost himself in his story, not hearing the complaints of everybody else as he vanished into the darkness.

"That idiot never ceases to make me think less of him," Minato deadpanned.

"Does he not understand what it means to 'decide as a team'?" Tatsuya tapped his right foot on the ground in slight irritation.

"Should we go after him?" Hamuko asked.

Yu sighed. "I think that'd be-" he was silenced when he began to hear Naoya's voice from behind.

"—After avoiding the trap door that rudely dropped us back to the first floor, we then entered the art room and encountered Re-" Naoya stopped when he felt Yu's hand press against his chest. "Oh… hey guys… wait a minute-"

"That's peculiar," Tatsuya muttered before he eyed the right hall that he just saw Naoya walk down.

"How are you back here, if we just saw you go down there?" Minato asked as he pointed down the right hall.

"Unless…" Hamuko gripped her naginata and with all of her strength, threw it straight down the right hall like a javelin, quickly turning around when it had faded into the darkness. A few seconds later, her naginata came flying from behind and she quickly caught it without much effort. "A trap hall… it'll only send us in a circle," she pointed to the left hall. "That's the right path."

"Nice job," Yu complimented Hamuko. "Let's continue," he started moving down the left hall with Tatsuya and Hamuko on tow.

"Well I'll be, you really are good for something Naoya," Minato said. "Helping us reveal traps! Keep it up and you'll be promoted to honorary meat shield in no time," he joked before catching up with the others.

"… Stupid labyrinth… you make me look bad," Naoya muttered as he kicked a nearby wall in anger. His head turned towards the retreating footsteps of his team and he hurriedly caught up with everybody else.

"I'm not sure if it's good that nothing has jumped out at us in a while or bad," Yu murmured. "But either way, I'm a little worried that we're in for something big here."

"What makes you say that?" Tatsuya asked.

"Woman's intuition?" Hamuko asked, earning a small round of chuckles from Naoya and Minato, and a small grumble from Yu. "Sorry, sorry… I just couldn't let that one get away."

' _I'm getting an annoying sense of Deja-vu'._ "Don't worry about it," Yu said as he waved her off. _'Every dog has their day after all.'_ He cleared his throat. "Anyways, I don't really know… I guess it's just paranoia in the end." The hall they were walking down had expanded greatly, giving the team some more room to breathe.

"And we can't necessarily get into contact with Elizabeth for some guidance so I guess your paranoia is well-placed Yu," Naoya pat Yu on the back gently. "But let's not jinx anything and keep on truckin'."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Hamuko cheered.

"Then let's get out of here safely," Tatsuya said before clenching his fists. The ground rumbled and two stray bolts of lightning crashed down in front of them, creating a cloud of dust. When the cloud vanished, all that was left in its wake was a large Minotaur with pure white skin scraping the ground with his feet and snarling at the team and a colossal sized, blue dragon that rested on all fours.

Naoya slapped his forehead before dragging his hand down his face. "Of course! Hey, while you're at it, go ahead and send an army our way, why don't ya!?" As if to completely spite him, three more bolts of lightning crashed down around them, summoning two more Fafnirs and one Fenrir.

"Wasn't it you who said not to jinx anything?" Minato asked sarcastically.

"Luckily for you, you're so small they might not notice if you try to run away!" Naoya spat.

"Not now!" Yu yelled as he readied his sword. _'We're going to have to pull out all the stops if we want to escape this one.'_

"Get ready," Hamuko said as she got into her stance. The demons lunged in unison at the team, ready to sink their teeth into their flesh and rip them apart like paper.

But just then, something whipped past the team in a blur of unpredictable movement. Before they could even react, each demon that had made to attack them fell apart at the seams, gushing ichor all along the walls and floors before they dissipated completely.

"What in the…" Tatsuya's voice trailed off he caught sight of something standing in front of them. At the center of the expanding puddle of ichor, knelt somebody draped in a large, white hooded cloak with a red streak going down its center, with the red streak branching off onto the sleeves. Slowly, he stood up and turned around to face the team. His face was completely concealed by the hood, hiding his identity.

"Um… thanks?" Yu offered, though, his grip on his sword tightened ever so slightly.

Minato narrowed his eyes as he slid his left foot back and clenched his fists. "Something doesn't seem right here," he muttered.

Tatsuya quickly shifted his gaze to Naoya, who himself seemed slightly on edge, an unusual shift in demeanor as opposed to his usual self. Tatsuya's palms were covered in sweat and he rubbed his tongue along the roof of his mouth. Something told him that they weren't going to be able to just waltz on past this potential threat.

Naoya put his palm to his right cheek.

The hooded man raised his left hand in front of him and snapped his fingers. A small ball of fire appeared in front of him before expanding tremendously and darting straight for the team.

"Move!" Tatsuya yelled, prompting everybody to leap in random directions. Tatsuya remained completely still and took the blast head-on, completely unfazed by the attack thanks to Vulcanus. He rushed towards the man and thrusted both swords forward, completely missing as he was tripped and kicked in the side, sent flying towards a nearby wall. He quickly readjusted himself in the air and planted his feet on the wall, letting gravity do its job as he landed back on the ground easily.

' _Can you hear the sound of my voice?'_ Margaret's voice tuned in.

"Loud and clear," Tatsuya assured.

' _Splendid, my siblings and I are currently creating a link between the Network and the Velvet Room for you all to pass through,'_ she explained. _'It shall take some time to be completed, so please, do your best to survive until then.'_

' _Easier said than done,'_ Tatsuya thought as he rolled his shoulders. He rushed back at the man with even more vigor than before.

"Looks like you can use that trick after all Minato," Yu said as he saw Tatsuya get thrown across the floor with little to no effort. Yu summoned Berith and barked out a 'Single Shot', running alongside Berith's red horse as it charged into battle.

"Finally, let's do this," Minato said as he summoned Orpheus. "Orpheus! Gurentou!" Orpheus pulled his lyre from his back and held it like he would the hilt of a blade. He quickly strung it with his right hand and created a blade made solely of fire before slowly descending it above Minato. Minato raised his gauntlets into the flames and brought them back in front of him, now completely ignited. He looked to his left and saw Hamuko helping Tatsuya to hit feet. He snorted before running at his target with Orpheus flying behind him.

He quickly got into fighting distance and smiled when he saw that the man was currently distracted due to holding both Berith's lance and Yu's sword. _'Perfect,'_ he thought as he tossed a hard uppercut to his exposed side. The man quickly rose his left foot and halted Minato's uppercut, but Minato could only smile. "Tell me, how are you going to avoid this one?" He asked as Orpheus slashed horizontally with his flame sword, prompting the man to quickly release Yu and Berith's respective weapons and duck, narrowly avoiding the sword and hopping back to create distance.

"Whoa!" Yu yelled as he jumped out of the way to avoid being burnt, unfortunately causing Berith to take the blow. Yu's head was rocked with pain as he shot Minato a dirty look. "Be careful next time!" He scolded Minato, who only waved Yu off and charged at the man again.

The man snapped his fingers and a large storm cloud formed over Minato. Minato looked up and widened his eyes, skidding to a halt and then rolling to the side, avoiding a large lightning bolt by the skin of his teeth. _'That was a Ziodyne!'_ When he recovered, he didn't have time to react to a giant block of ice slamming into him and knocking him unconscious.

"Arm chopper!" Naoya yelled from atop Eligor's horse. He quickly hopped off as Eligor swiped in a wide arc with his spear, only for it to be caught halfway. Naoya landed in a roll and pulled out his gun, firing off a few wild shots before closing the distance with a quick thrust of his sword. His thrust was sidestepped easily and countered by a fierce punch to his ribs. Naoya winced in pain before turning his body and slashing straight down, only for his sword to be caught with one hand. Naoya took note of the man being the same height as him, and yet his face was still hidden. He felt himself being kneed in the gut and then punched several feet backwards.

Hamuko jumped over Naoya's flying body and landed on her feet, firing her Evoker and summoning Anzu. "Garu!" She yelled, prompting Anzu to generate a small vortex around the man briefly before it was dissipated effortlessly. Hamuko swept low with her naginata, but the man simply hopped in place and landed on it. Hamuko tried to pull it out from beneath him, but it was futile as he began to walk on top of it towards her. She saw him raise his hand to his side and stop a barrage of ice shards, courtesy of Yu.

"Obariyon, Sonic Punch!" Yu ordered as he summoned his Persona. Obariyon leapt towards the man and threw a power infused fist straight at him. He seamlessly ducked it and snapped his fingers again to summon a row of large lightning bolts straight for Yu. _'All I have is a resistance, it won't do much against an attack of this magnitude,'_ he thought as he quickly darted backwards and then rolled to the side. Before he could even get back on his feet, Hamuko (along with her naginata) was tossed directly onto him. The man was about to snap his fingers once again, when Tatsuya made himself known.

"Hey!" Tatsuya called out, getting the man's attention easily. "Nata Taishi!" He yelled as he summoned said Persona, throwing one of his swords at the man as Nata Taishi followed in suite. The sword was caught and used to impale Nata Taishi in one swift motion, quickly snapping his fingers afterwards to generate a ring of ice blocks to surround Tatsuya. "Bufudyne!?"He raised his one sword as he noticed the blocks of ice began to close in on him. _'How am I going to get out of this!? Dammit, I need an idea and I need it now! I need to move fast! I need to move fast!'_ He shut his eyes for a brief moment and when he opened them, the world around him had an inverted color to it. He looked around and saw that the blocks of ice were moving at a pace slower than a snail's own. _'This is…'_ he trailed off as he saw a small opening for him to escape through, which he did without hesitation. He quickly made some distance from the ice before the world returned to its original color, the blocks of ice quickly colliding with each other and exploding. _'Did I just… teleport?'_ He thought to himself.

The man turned his head towards Tatsuya.

' _There'll be time later to figure out what just happened,'_ Tatsuya thought as took note of Hamuko and Yu trying to wake Minato up. He turned his attention towards Naoya, who seemed to be struggling to get on his feet. "Margaret, how much longer!?"

' _It is nearly complete,'_ Margaret informed. _'Please, we need only a few more moments.'_

"I don't think we can last a few more moments," Naoya said. _'At least not unless…'_

"We can make it," Hamuko said as Minato and Yu stood alongside her. "We just need to keep pushing."

"Looks like I'm going to have to sync up with Orpheus again," Minato said as he opened his palm and summoned Orpheus' Tarot Card.

"Watch out!" Yu warned as he quickly pushed Minato and Hamuko away from an incoming Ziodyne. Yu took the full force of the attack and was sent hurdling into a wall, slamming his back against it and falling onto the ground. He twitched involuntarily and vomited up a copious amount of blood.

' _That's unsightly,'_ Minato mused inwardly as he saw Yu's damaged body on the floor.

"You go help him, I'll work with Naoya and Tatsuya," Hamuko said as she gripped her naginata and ran at the man once again.

Minato quickly made his way towards Yu and opened the item bag. "Looks like it's time for me to repay you… Yu," he said as he pulled out a Soma and forced Yu to down the contents.

Tatsuya took another Agidyne head on and summoned Vulcanus. "Maragi!" He ordered Vulcanus as he braced himself. _'How did I do it before?'_ Tatsuya squeezed his eyes shut and bit down on his bottom lip in deep concentration. He felt a bit of his energy seep out from his body and when he opened his eyes again the world had taken on its inverted colors once more. His eyes darted to the right and saw Naoya, bent at the knees in the center of a Garu with Seimen Kongou floating behind him. He then turned his gaze to his left and noted Hamuko with her Evoker aimed to her head. Both of them were moving too slow for Tatsuya's interest, denoting that he had succeeded in his attempt. _'I can still see them moving… so it's not teleportation, just… high speed movement.'_ His gaze then fell on the team's shared enemy, and without hesitation, Tatsuya ran and sent his sword straight through his stomach. The world returned to its normal color pattern and time around Tatsuya resumed its original pace.

The man looked down at Tatsuya, still holding his sword in his left hand. "Now then," Tatsuya began as he pulled his sword out and turned towards his other sword. "I'll be taking that ba-" he ceased his speaking when he felt his own sword being driven into his side. He felt a hand lift him up by the back of his collar and fling him to the side as if he were some bag of trash, all noise around him suddenly growing dim.

Naoya's eyes followed Tatsuya's body until he collided with a recently recovered Yu and Minato before he gritted his teeth in anger. "Hamuko! Stay away from him! Help the others!" He ordered without hesitation.

"But what about-" She stopped talking when Naoya shot her a vicious glare.

"That's an order! I won't repeat myself!" He saw Hamuko slowly nod before making her way towards the others. When Naoya turned his attention back to the mysterious man, he almost yelled in shock when he found himself standing face to (hidden) face with him. Almost instantly, he dissipated the Garu surrounding him and slashed horizontally with his sword, creating no noise as he moved. _'If this doesn't work then I'll have to resort to using…'_ he was ripped from his thoughts when he saw his sword being caught with ease. "H-how?" He asked in complete disbelief. His eyes dropped down to his sword, where he saw sparks of electricity coming to life, prompting him to instantly let go and try to make some space.

His collar was grabbed and he was forcefully pulled towards the man. Naoya heard the rumble of a large storm cloud materializing above his head.

Naoya quickly crushed a Tarot Card and summoned Seimen Kongou. "Spin Kick!" Seimen Kongou quickly materialized and did as he was ordered. Twirling in the air and aiming a powerful kick to the man. Naoya could only growl in anger as he was thrown back and forced to watch Seimen Kongou get obliterated by an Agidyne. He landed on his back but quickly flipped back onto his feet. He turned his gaze towards his teammates, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he saw them helping Tatsuya to his feet, but his frown only managed to grow when he realized that he would have to resort to drastic measures.

' _The link is established,'_ Margaret's voice interjected. _'Quickly now!'_ A beam of light burst into view right in front of Hamuko, Yu, Minato and Tatsuya, bright enough for them to have to shield their eyes briefly before adjusting. Their shared attention turned towards Naoya, who was the farthest away from the beam of light.

"Go!" He yelled. "I'm not sure how long that'll last!"

"But what about you!?" Hamuko asked desperately, almost stepping towards Naoya.

"I'm giving you an opening! Get your asses in ge-" he turned back when he felt his right arm being grabbed. "What the hell!?" Was all he managed to get out before he was flung towards his team effortlessly, landing in a tumble before he stopped right in front of the light. He quickly stood up and motioned for everybody to get inside, which they did without hesitation. He remained outside, gazing at the man with furrowed brows and a dark scowl. His eyes widened as he saw him slowly raise his hands to his hood and begin to take it off.

A hand grabbed him by the back of the shirt and yanked him into the beam of light just before Naoya could see his face. As soon as Naoya was pulled in, he felt the floor beneath him vanish and a feeling of weightlessness enveloped him. He turned to face the team and saw that they were going through the same experience.

Yu pressed his fingers against the edges of the light and was surprised to feel that there was a fluidity to it. He decided to go a bit further and see if he could put his entire hand through, only slightly surprised when it did. _'Last time I did what I'm about to do… I got stuck,'_ he thought as he moved his body closer to the edge and poked his head through. He quickly pulled it back in and turned to the team. "Guys, you need to check this out!" Everybody huddled around him and he poked his head through again, this time hearing everybody else do the same.

"Whoa," Hamuko whispered as she took in the sight. While everything was pitch black for the most part, the only form of light was from an innumerable number of red streams flowing almost nonsensically in random directions, with sparks of electricity dancing along the edges. The streams seemed to expand indefinitely as nobody could see a definite end to them.

"It's beautiful," Yu mumbled.

Naoya's mouth was agape as he gazed upon something he could only define as astounding. "Like the branches… of an Agastya Tree." He pulled his head back and everybody else followed in suite, looking beneath them and seeing an even brighter light coming their way.

"Looks like this is our stop," Tatsuya said as the light neared them.

Back in the Velvet Room, the siblings were sweating slightly as they continued to hold the link open. In front of the main table, a beam of light burst into existence and spat out the guests, making them land in a tangle of limbs on the floor. The siblings released each other's hands and sighed in relief at their success.

Margaret opened her eyes and smiled when everybody was present and accounted for.

Throughout the cacophony of groans, Naoya raised his hand. "You guys would not BELIEVE what we just went through."

* * *

 **And they've returned safely… for the most part.**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Stay Golden!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Respite**

 **-Reviews**

 **mocasiotorres27: If you've ever played SMT: Nocturne, there were quite a bit of signs leading to the Amala Network making an appearance. Also, that teensy tiny little Amala Network conversation at the end of chapter 12 was a hint.**

 **EternalCombOver: If that's semi-stereotypical, then I'm curious to see as to what's fully stereotypical (probably demons who turn out to be secret double-agents deployed by Philemon). Male territorial disputes take up all the action and Tatsuya goes to rehab to break his pot addiction in the Ties That Bind spinoff I don't have in the works. I'm also curious to learn about different depictions of cape physics. Are they just completely unfazed by the wind? Or do they have their own wind in a closed off room?**

 **9 seconds have passed since the activation of 'Za Warudo' which means I can finally update, thanks!**

 **Rittie: Why yes, the Amala Network is originally from Nocturne. Sadly, you're confusing the Amala Network with the Labyrinth of Amala with that Dante joke. Although, that does give me an idea…**

 **NollyLvn: As you can see with previous chapters (especially 11 & 12), Minato doesn't hold his teammates in the highest of regards, but I'm glad you got a laugh out of that. Hamuko's performance, while lacking… shouldn't be used as a first impression, as it was against rather overpowered opponents for the team's current strength. And think nothing of the naginata tapping, as its relevance is comparable to an idle animation.**

 **Extraneous: The One-Year Anniversary of this story is coming up rather soon… How should I celebrate it? I do recall Naoya trying to boast about how he saved a loved Holiday…**

 **Let the chapter commence**

* * *

" **I don't recall giving you enough leeway to engage them head-on."**

"My apologies, master," he knelt and turned his head downwards, as if he was swallowed by shame.

" **If I were in a different mood… I'd punish you in full,"** Nyarlathotep threatened. **"However, I instructed for you to make sure they escaped with their heads still attached to their bodies and you did as such. Just this once, I shall turn a blind eye to your actions. I shall show no mercy the next time you defy me."**

"Thank you, Master Nyarlathotep."

" **Let that warning be extended to the rest of you,"** Nyarlathotep cracked his knuckles and the throne room rumbled ferociously. He snorted in anger and then waved his hand. **"Now be gone, I have matters to attend to."**

* * *

"And that's the story thus far."

Naoya, with the help of the others, had just finished going over their recent endeavors inside the Amala Network.

"Hmm, interesting," Philemon mumbled. "To think that there would even be terminals here."

"Terminals?" Tatsuya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I apologize, that is unimportant right now," Philemon said. "When the time is right, all shall be revealed."

' _You would think given the magnitude of our mission, the time for revelations would have come and gone by now,'_ Minato thought.

"Well what matters now is that we made it out safely," Hamuko said. "And of course we have you guys to thank for that." She gave a thumbs up to the siblings of the Velvet Room, who in turn, returned her kind action with warm smiles.

"My, such optimism," Elizabeth said.

"I find it to be a nice change of pace from your own guest," Margaret said.

Minato furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm right here you know."

Theodore gave Minato a sly smile. "I would assume that would be the reason why my sister articulated her opinion."

"Drama in the Velvet Room," Naoya whispered while he playfully elbowed Tatsuya in the ribs.

"But anyways, who was that guy we fought at the end back there?" Yu asked.

"That's the million-yen question right there," Naoya said as he leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Why'd he kill those other demons… only to attack us?"

"His power was unprecedented," Hamuko whispered.

"Had the link not been created when it did… I'm not sure we would've survived," Yu scratched the back of his head.

"I don't need reminding of such a humiliation," Minato spat. "But still… I'd be lying if I said he didn't catch my interest."

"The Amala Network is home to demons whose power far exceeds your own currently," Philemon explained. "You have no reason to feel humiliated over a near defeat against an enemy of that caliber."

"He didn't give off that air a demon would… but what else could take down demons of that power with that much ease?" Tatsuya rubbed his chin in thought.

"I guess for now there's no use dwelling on it," Hamuko said. "What matters is that we made it out alive… so let's worry about the future."

"That's the spirit," Naoya complimented. "Hey Minato, why can't you be more like… you? I'm still gettin' used to this."

"Shut up Naoya."

"I must apologize to you all," Igor spoke up.

"Apologize for what, Igor?" Naoya leaned forward.

"I am the sole reason for the link's tardy arrival," he began. "Had I not intervened, the link would have been established at a much earlier timeframe and you lot would have escaped the Network much earlier."

"Well surely you had a good reason," Hamuko assured.

"I had requested for you all to be placed as close to the next fragment as possible while the link was being conceived. I can only ask for you to forgive me for such an irresponsible decision."

"Irresponsible!?" Naoya jumped out of his chair. "Igor are you kiddin' me, that's the complete opposite of irresponsible! That's… that's… what's the opposite of irresponsible?"

"Responsible," Tatsuya humored Naoya.

"That's the most sensible thing you could've thought of at the time!" Naoya yelled. Besides him, Tatsuya rolled his eyes.

"Naoya's right Igor, closing the distance between us and the fragment was a smart choice," Yu said. "Besides, it's not like you exactly knew what was going on in there so… no harm no foul."

"I'd say," Hamuko chimed in. "When have you ever done anything that merits the title of 'irresponsible'?"

"Igor," Tatsuya spoke Igor's name with such a calm voice that it almost threw off the others. "Thank you. Please, you don't have to worry yourself over an action that really had no negative drawbacks."

At that, Igor gave the team a warm smile and chuckled. "I am always left at awe over how our guests manage to find the good in almost every action. Truly, you are all are the pinnacle of mankind's determination to grow."

"Well of course, we are after all, the last humans alive," Minato mused.

"I don't think he meant it like that," Hamuko mumbled.

"Anyways, I really don't think I can hold out any longer," Naoya said as he sat back down. "I think I'm speakin' for everybody when I say it's time for some fusion action."

"I second that motion," Minato said, followed by a nod from Yu and Hamuko, while Tatsuya gave his usual grunt of approval.

"Shall you choose to register any of your respective Persona?" Elizabeth asked as she opened her compendium.

"I don't feel like we've gotten any stronger since our last registration but sure," Yu said. "Doesn't hurt to play it safe."

"Yu's right," Hamuko commented. "There's practically no reason not to."

"Here's the plan guys," Naoya began. "We're gonna fuse the Personas we have – obviously – and then, when we get our new Personas, we'll purchase back the older Personas and then fuse 'em with the new ones!"

"That's actually… a respectable idea," Tatsuya complimented, a bit taken aback over Naoya saying something smart.

"Albeit rather… obvious," Minato whispered.

Igor chortled before he rolled his shoulders. "Well then, let's begin."

* * *

"It's like it gets worse the more we stare."

Finally leaving the Velvet Room after a few rounds of Persona fusion, the team had learned that they were warped to the ruins of another widespread city. The sun had long since set but the moon wasn't visible in the sky. The only noises were from the rumbling storm clouds that hovered above the city, creating a small sense of ambience.

Tatsuya turned his attention to his left and caught sight of a colossal, foreboding tower in the distance. It peaked just below the center of a large supercell that periodically rained down bolts of lightning onto the tip of the tower.

"I'll be back," Tatsuya said as he began walking away. "I'm going to higher ground to get a better view."

"High ground during a storm? Somebody hasn't been primed on storm safety," Naoya teased.

"I'm going with him," Hamuko said as she began to follow Tatsuya.

Tatsuya looked back and gave Hamuko a weird look before shrugging his shoulders. "That's fine."

Minato and Yu gave Tatsuya questioning glares before Naoya wrapped his arms around their shoulders. "And that leaves us on the mission preparation team," Naoya said before he took a big whiff of Minato and Yu, reeling back in disgust as his nose was assaulted with a horrid smell. "When was the last time you two took a shower!?" He smelled his own armpits. "When was the last time I took a shower?"

"Last time I cleaned myself, I was still alive," Minato said before rolling his shoulders.

"Do you guys hear that?" Yu asked as he jerked his head to the right. It was faint, but there was an immaculate humming in the distance. After a few seconds, the humming increased in volume until it became completely audible to the trio.

"I hear it now," Naoya said as he straightened up. "Should we check it out or…" he trailed off as he saw Minato and Yu already making their way towards the source. "Yeah… sure."

A few moments later, the trio found themselves standing in front of the entrance to a large rundown hotel. A few lights could be seen flickering sporadically and the humming had completely died out upon their arrival. Yu put his hand on the door and pushed it open, wincing as it creaked obnoxiously loud.

The main lobby was lit by a weak lightbulb, casting it in a dim light that didn't satisfy the trio's expectations for something amazingly interesting. The lobby was mainly empty, but behind the main desk was a woman dressed in a thin white cloth with long green hair that reached the nape of her back.

"This place looks like it doesn't get much service," Minato said as he stepped in and eyed the lack of décor. "Perhaps it's due to being in such a shady neighborhood."

The woman behind the desk giggled at Minato's remark. "We actually came here cause of how much demons were coming through," she explained as she rested her chin in her hands. "You wouldn't believe how loud it was a few days ago with so many demons trying to climb to the top of that tower."

"I can only imagine," Yu said as he rested his elbow on the desk and leaned in close. "Tell me, do you know why so many demons came through here?"

"There's something at the top of the tower that's apparently worth your while if you can climb to the top… something out of this world."

Minato, Naoya and Yu exchanged knowing glances.

"Do you mind telling us what you run here?" Naoya asked as he rubbed his fingers along a wall and scrunched up his face at the amount of dust. "I'm sure with a Siren like you at the front desk, this should be a top class establishment," he saw an old picture frame drop to the ground. "More or less."

"Just a rest stop," she said. "We haven't gotten a lot of visitors lately."

"Is there a specific reason as to why?" Minato asked. "Or is it because of this place's mundane aesthetics?"

"Like I said, this place used to be bumbling with demon activity in the hopes of climbing the top of that tower," the Siren began. "But then people started to realize that you couldn't escape until you reached the top… and traversing the tower was borderline suicide."

"Well you got visitors now," Naoya exclaimed. "You got some sort of hot spring in here? We smell like death."

"Of course," the Siren perked up. "It's down at the end of the left hall. If you need anything, then my sisters will come to your assistance."

"You guys go on ahead," Yu said. "I'm gonna go look around."

"Yeah, yeah, but you better hurry," Naoya said. "I'm not gonna be able to fight properly if I keep catching surprise whiffs of your smell." With a hearty laugh, Naoya made his way down the left hall while Minato followed silently.

Yu waved them off before he made his way down the parallel hall, fixing the bag on his shoulders and putting his hands in his pockets.

A few minutes later and Yu had arrived on the much livelier fourth floor with a sizeable bounty of items in the bag. Whistling a catchy tune, his eyes darted from Siren to Siren as they practically bounced around the hall with smiles plastered on their faces.

' _They all seem full of energy despite the supposed lack of visitors,'_ he thought as they moved with a peppy spring in their step. Each Siren that passed him had stopped to get a good look at him before giggling and hurrying along their way. _'Looks like I'm quite the eye candy to these voluptuous ladies.'_ His gaze fell upon a trio of Sirens leaning along an open door, eyeing Yu with playful gazes before slowly stepping into the room. Yu turned back and saw that none of the other passing Sirens were paying him any mind. He chuckled before making his way to the room and opening the door, not at all surprised at what he awaited him. "Naoya and Minato can learn to wait."

Without hesitation, he entered the room and shut the door.

* * *

"Our work seems to be cut out for us," Tatsuya said.

He stood on the edge of a roof as he gazed upon the ominous tower. At the top, the supercell had expanded tremendously and enormous bolts of lightning struck down rapidly. There was no external activity as far as he could see, but he still kept his eyes open.

By now, the rain had begun falling relentlessly on the city, frustrating Hamuko but not fazing Tatsuya in the slightest.

"How are you able to stay so dry!?" Hamuko asked as she moved from the center of the roof to the edge next to Tatsuya. She grabbed her hair with both hands and tried to wring out all of the water her hair absorbed. Groaning over how cold her wet clothes were. On closer inspection of Tatsuya's still form, Hamuko widened her eyes when she saw each individual raindrop completely evaporate the moment they came into contact with Tatsuya's body. "How are you doing that?"

"It's Vulcanus," Tatsuya muttered. "I've increased my body heat to the point of instantly evaporating any water that comes too close." He motioned for her to get close to him, which she did without hesitation. Hamuko gasped when she felt and saw her body beginning to dry at an alarming rate.

"Umm… thanks," She turned her gaze to the top of the tower. "So the next fragment is in there," she sat down on the edge. "This'll be the first time I get to see what it looks like."

"Don't think too much of it," Tatsuya assured as he sat down next to her. "This will only be our second time."

The storm was the only noise between them for a brief moment.

"Is there a particular reason as to why you wanted to join me?" Tatsuya asked.

"Oh right," Hamuko was briefly startled. "It's about your past… if that's alright with you."

Tatsuya pulled out his lighter and flicked it. _'I'll humor her for a bit,'_ he thought as he put the lighter back in his pocket. "What's bothering you?"

"How are… how are you still able to fight?" She asked. "How are you still able to push on even though you live on the Other Side? There's nothing there for you and yet… you still continue to fight on."

"There's nothing there for me, that much is true," Tatsuya agreed. "However, there's everything here to keep me motivated." When Hamuko said nothing, he continued. "I fight with the hopes of keeping this world safe from harm… I suppose it's poetic that I've failed yet again." He gazed upon the tower's peak yet again and narrowed his eyes. "This is all because of my failure."

"Don't say that," Hamuko murmured meekly, earning Tatsuya's attention. "That's why we're here right? It's not just your burden to carry Tatsuya, we're all trying to clean up this mess."

"You're not from this world," Tatsuya said. "How can you try to share the blame for something you had no part of?"

"Well," Hamuko put a finger to her chin. "Technically, you're not from this world either, so technically, we're both in the same boat."

Tatsuya chuckled and then looked to the dark sky. "I suppose that does make you and I kindred spirits."

"That's not the only thing," Hamuko whispered low enough for Tatsuya not to hear. She turned away from Tatsuya and frowned.

"Oh? Is there more?"

Hamuko almost fell off of the roof in shock. "Wha? H-how did-"

"Well? I'm waiting," Tatsuya gave Hamuko a blank stare, prompting Hamuko to scoot away from Tatsuya and twiddle her thumbs. The wind howled viciously as the storm increased in strength, and yet, neither Tatsuya or Hamuko paid it any mind.

She sighed, knowing that Tatsuya wasn't going to back down. "Well…"

* * *

"This is the life," Naoya drawled as he leaned his back against the edge of the water and shut his eyes.

"If by life, you mean an ephemeral moment of tranquility amongst frequent chaos and life threatening situations in a broken world… then yes, I suppose this is a pleasant change of pace," Minato replied as he mimicked Naoya's actions.

They were currently sitting on opposite sides of the heated bath, letting their individual stress sink to the bottom of the hot water that lapped against their bare skin. The room was poorly lit by a single, dying light bulb, but most of the décor in the room was surprisingly well kept.

"Y'see, this is why I prefer your female counterpart," Naoya wagged his left index finger. "So upbeat, head always either in the moment or lookin' towards the future." He rolled his shoulders. "But you! Oh no, you always gotta think about past events, and they're always the negative moments too! The only time you're thinkin' about what could happen next is when you're wonderin' who's blood you plan on spillin'."

"Preferring Hamuko over me is quite honestly offensive given how horrible her skills at combat were," Minato said. "She's not even worthy of calling herself an alternate version of me."

"Maybe you're not worthy of calling yourself an alternate version of her," chuckling awkwardly, Naoya rubbed his eyes. "So the next fragment is in that tower, eh?"

"I've climbed enough towers for one lifetime," Minato said.

"But have you climbed enough towers for _two_ lifetimes? Get it? Because-"

"Yes I get it, because I died, haha, very funny," the sarcasm in Minato's voice was palpable. "You joke too much."

"I suppose so," Naoya leaned forward and looked at Minato with a serious expression. "But let's get down to business."

"To defeat the Huns?" Minato joked, frowning when Naoya didn't laugh at his remark. "Yeesh, let me have some fun every once in a while."

"It's about Yu," Naoya quickly stated. "He's piqued my interest recently."

"Only recently?" Minato teased as he too leaned forward in the chest high water. "You too have been close since the beginning of this little escapade."

"That may be true… but there's something else about him that's been feeding my curiosity."

"Do go on."

"While you and Tatsuya went at it, Yu and I had our own little quarrel inside the Velvet Room," Naoya explained, unsurprised when Minato flashed a grin of intrigue.

"And how did that go?" Minato's excitement over the topic broke through his façade.

"More or less like your fight," Naoya said with a smile, making Minato raise an eyebrow in confusion. "The younger one lost."

Minato growled in annoyance.

"Jokes aside, I've noticed that we all tend to… hold back while we fight," Naoya began. "You do it to make your fun last longer, no?"

"That and the looks on the faces of my victims when they realize how deep of a hole they've dug themselves in is just… priceless," Minato said before throwing his head back in a short-lived laughter.

"Right… I'm sure you've seen why Tatsuya chooses not to put his all into a fight."

"Looks like he's got that problem under control," Minato mused. "Although, I was hoping to settle the score with his obnoxious shadow."

"Yeah whatever, but what I don't know is why Yu doesn't fight to the fullest," Naoya rubbed his chin. "He seems to disdain the concept of being companionless… but it has to go deeper than that."

"This bath time gossip is fun and all but… what pray tell does this have to do with me?"

"Of course," Naoya leaned back and gazed blankly at the flickering light hanging from the ceiling. "With your little scrap with Tatsuya, it would appear that you have an innate ability of extracting the… darker sides of people." Naoya sloshed his hands mindlessly in the water for a couple of seconds. "It looks like I gave Yu the initial push forward…"

"I just have to get him to the goal then," Minato finished for him. "Alright, but I'm going to have to warn you, my methods won't exactly be… agreeable."

"So be it… just don't kill him," Naoya spoke firmly. "Or else you'll have me to deal with."

' _I can't make any promises… and with an incentive like that Naoya, I just might have to make Yu kick the bucket.'_ Minato chuckled. "You have my word."

' _This kid thinks he's slick, but he's using the oldest tricks in the book… a book written by yours truly.'_ The room to the bath slid open, pulling both men out of their reveries. "Oh hey Yu, what took you so long?" Naoya asked innocently as Yu stepped inside the bath wearing only a towel and carrying the item bag.

"Enjoying the festivities," Yu said as he stepped into the heated water and sat in his own corner. He immediately felt the effects of the water and let out an exhausted sigh, almost drifting into a calm slumber.

"Enjoy yourself too much there bud? You look like you could use a good rest," Minato mused as he saw Yu's body slowly sinking until the water covered just below his neck.

"You could say that," Yu drawled. "I had… quite the workout before I decided to come here." Yu sighed again. "And then I had small detour on the way here… but that's in the past."

"Oh? Are these little adventures not interesting enough to merit a debriefing?" Minato asked as he leaned his body towards Yu.

"Yeah… I'm curious to see what's strong enough to drain our resident 'streak of lightning' of all his energy," Naoya teased as he too leaned towards Yu.

Yu himself blushed as he waved the duo off. "That's a story for another time guys… besides, I feel kinda bad that we're lazing about while Hamuko and Tatsuya do some… would it be reconnaissance?"

"Reconnaissance is basically a preliminary observation, which is more or less what those two are doing," Minato explained. "So yes, I suppose we can call it as such."

"Y'know, I think there's something I should be worried about right now but I just can't put my finger on it," Naoya mumbled as he felt his eyelids getting heavier.

"What's to worry about?" Yu asked. "We're relaxing our muscles in a hot bath run by a bunch of Sirens, what could go wrong?"

"I guess you're right," Naoya agreed. "What do you think Minato?"

…

"Minato?" Yu asked with his gaze aimed upwards.

…

"Minato?"

…

"Dude what the-" Naoya's voice failed him when he saw Minato's limp body, facedown floating in the water.

"Hm? What's wro-" Yu decided to check out what was going on and reacted in the exact same manner Naoya did. A few seconds passed before they both scrambled to grab Minato's body and pull him out of the water.

"Shit! Give him CPR!" Naoya hurriedly ordered Yu.

"Me!? I'm not doing it! You do it!"

"What do you mean I do it!? Why won't you do it!?"

"I'm not putting my lips on his!"

"Just push on his chest!"

"Well why do I have to do that! That sounds like something you can do!"

"Why are we arguing!? He's on the verge of death!"

"I don't know why-" Yu stopped yelling when he heard the vestiges of mischievous laughter.

"What the hell?" Naoya turned his head towards Minato and saw the edges of his lips curving into a smile.

It wasn't long until Minato completely burst into a fit of laughter, grabbing his sides in pain and absurdly rolling around.

"Hahaha! You guys—you guys actually—you actually fell for it! Haha! My side's gonna split!"

"What the hell man!? We thought you almost died!" Yu yelled as he stood up angrily.

"Not cool Minato… you crossed a line with this one," Naoya scolded Minato.

"If anybody's to blame, it's Pharos," Minato admitted as he stopped laughing, wiping a lone tear from his eye. "He's the one who gave me the idea."

"I'd never thought I would see the day where you would throw the blame on me of all people," Pharos said as he appeared besides Minato.

"Well it's true," Minato said, finally catching his breath.

"…Okay, that was a little funny… But still wrong!" Naoya shook his head and fixed his towel around his waist.

"Fine, fine… I'm sorry that you guys are too gullible," Minato 'apologized' to Naoya and Yu.

"I feel like that's the best we're going to get from you," Yu deadpanned. "I suppose we should start getting ready… it'd be rude to keep Hamuko and Tatsuya waiting any longer."

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Naoya said as he made his way to his clothes.

Feeling refreshed, the trio shared a few jokes with each other before returning to the entrance.

"I do hope you enjoyed your stay here," the Siren at the front desk said to them, although her gaze seemed to hint that it was more focused on Yu rather than all three of them.

"I sure as hell did," Naoya said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I suppose this little detour was commendable," Minato mused.

"I know mines were," Yu said softly as he leaned against the front door. "Until next time."

"Catch ya later," Naoya waved.

"Adieu," Minato said blankly as the trio left the building and was immediately greeted by the violent storm that awaited them.

Eventually, both groups met up a few feet in front of the colossal tower, this time, fighting just to remain standing.

"This storm got strong way too quickly!" Naoya tried to yell above the howling winds and frequent lightning strikes.

"If we stay here there'll be a high chance that we're gonna get blown all the way back to that underground labyrinth!" Minato yelled as he covered his face from the torrential rain.

"Then let's get moving!" Tatsuya yelled as the storm increased in volume and the elements grew in power. Wasting no more time, the team ran towards the base of the tower and exchanged determined glances.

"So how is this supposed to work!?" Hamuko asked as she tried to press her hand on the tower wall. Completely unexpected by her, Hamuko's hand passed through the wall and she tried to pull it out but failed miserably. "Never mind!" With that, she stepped forward and passed through, prompting the others to follow her.

The only sounds left outside the tower, were from the gargantuan storm that raged without any end in sight.

* * *

 **This is rather short compared to the more recent chapters, but I'm sure that isn't a bad thing.**

 **Critique is always accepted, and reviews are always appreciated**

 **Stay Golden!**


	17. SPECIAL CHAPTER

**SPECIAL CHAPTER: THE ANNIVERSARY  
**

 **PSA: This chapter in no should be considered canon to the main story (as you will see in certain points throughout reading this). I simply did it because today is a special day for Persona as a whole. Enjoy!**

* * *

Naoya had woken up early, in fact, he assumed he had woken up earlier than the rest of the team.

He hopped out of the comfy bed and directed his gaze outside of the hotel. The storm was still going, but its power had decreased noticeably. He didn't mind it though, he enjoyed the ambience most storms brought with them. He stretched his muscles and rubbed his eyes before letting out a rather loud yawn.

He couldn't explain it, but something about today made him feel… warm? Old?

Whatever it was, he could worry about it later. For now, he felt like gathering with the rest of the team.

' _Let's start with Tatsuya,'_ Naoya thought briefly before making his way to the room door. When his hand squeezed the cold doorknob, he took a look at his current outfit and chuckled in amusement. _'I should get dressed first though…'_

Naoya was on the first floor of the hotel, which meant that he didn't see which floor everybody else chose to reside on… meaning finding everybody would probably take longer than anticipated.

Unless.

"Elizabeth, may I ask for your assistance for a brief moment?" Naoya asked.

' _It would be my upmost pleasure,'_ Elizabeth responded without hesitation.

"Thanks, I need you to be my guide to finding the others," Naoya explained. "Should be an easy job, yeah?"

' _But of course,'_ Elizabeth said. _'However, my masters wish to hold an audience with you soon.'_

"May I ask what for?" Naoya leaned against a wall with a curious smile.

' _I apologize but I am not at liberty to disclose their motives.'_

Naoya raised an eyebrow at that. He knew that Igor and Philemon had a tendency to be cryptic about things that would merit an explanation, but for some reason… this one ticked him off a bit more than usual.

Why though?

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Very well then, now, where's Tatsuya?" He asked as he stretched. He looked around the main lobby, the pitter patter of the rain outside quelled his already rather calm mind, and the dimly lit lobby added to the atmosphere. The Siren that usually remained at the front desk was gone, which confused him but he decided to think nothing of it.

' _Tatsuya is in his room directly above you,'_ Elizabeth informed. _'I will let you know when you are in close proximity.'_

"Right, gotcha." So much for being the first one to wake up.

The second floor, was much warmer compared to the cool of the first floor. Tatsuya had a thing for heat so Naoya decided to pin the reasoning on him. How he did it, he may ever know and frankly, he didn't really care.

"Dream of butterfly, or is life a dream? Don't wanna wake up, cause I'm…" Naoya stopped his 'singing' and turned his attention towards a peculiar door. Peculiar simply because this door was an odd red compared to the brown doors surrounding it.

' _He is just beyond that door,'_ Elizabeth said.

Naoya turned to his right and pressed his hand against a door, yanking it back due to how hot the door was. _'Yeesh, this is hot enough to cause some serious burns… what the hell is he doin' in there?'_ Naoya blew on his hand before sighing once again. "Tatsuya… you in there?" Naoya called out. "Come on, don't be shy."

There was some noise on the other side before the door creaked open slowly. When nothing else happened, Naoya put his foot against the door and pushed it open further, allowing himself access to Tatsuya's room.

"What do you want?" Tatsuya asked as he stared outside his open window. He was wearing his usual motorcycle gear, however, the jacket portion was slightly unzipped. Despite the rain pouring down, his room managed to stay completely dry.

"Hot enough in here for ya?" Naoya teased. When he got no response, he chuckled and sat down on the bed. He sighed in relief when he didn't combust on the spot. "How ya doin'?"

"Why do you care?" Tatsuya spat, not even turning to face Naoya.

"We're a team, and I like to know how my teammates are faring… especially given the… circumstances," Naoya explained with a frown.

"I'm doing fine…" Tatsuya's voice trailed off.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Naoya offered as he went to stand besides Tatsuya, leaning against a wall and placing his hands in his pocket.

"What is there to talk about?"

There was a long pause, with the only noise coming from the rain outside.

"There's something on my mind as well," Naoya said. He didn't look, but he could tell Tatsuya turned to him in curiosity. "When I woke up this morning… there was something bothering me and I couldn't tell what it was exactly."

"And how does this pertain to me?"

"I feel as if it has something to do with my past as well," Naoya rubbed his hair. "Look Tatsuya, from what you've told us, you were dealt a very shitty hand. I can't truly sympathize with you… but dwelling on it the way you are won't get you anywhere… at least, anywhere good. You're going to have to look towards the future with a smile and welcome any challenge that comes your way." Finally, he turned to Tatsuya with a confident grin. "Take Hamuko for example, I have yet to see her frown once! Except for that time we were in the Amala Network and…"

"Yeah, I get it Naoya," Tatsuya said. His frown was replaced with a small grin. "Thanks for this Naoya, really."

"Ah, don't mention it!" Naoya slapped Tatsuya on the back and kept his hand there. "Now, let's go find the others." He didn't remove his hand from Tatsuya's back, who himself was beginning to grow irritated.

"…Hey, what's cookin'?" Naoya asked as he smelt something burning. When he looked at the hand that was still on Tatsuya's back, he noticed that it was on fire. "…Oh."

* * *

"Lived in buried memory, with fear-ridden self-consciousness, I'm just-"

"This question is based solely on my curiosity, but how did you fare with school?"

"My high school years consisted mainly of me avoiding most of the work and paying attention in class whenever I had a feeling that my name would be called."

"I found little to no interest in school," Tatsuya responded. "While I did go to the school to avoid getting nagged by my brother, I never attended classes."

"That's… not the response I had hoped for… but I guess that's somethin'," Naoya said as he pushed the door open to the third floor. Luckily for him and Tatsuya, they had found Minato and Hamuko the moment they stepped foot onto the floor.

They were currently seated on a bench placed in front of a dirty window placed at the end of the hall. From their angle, Hamuko was leaning her head against the wall while Minato was hunched over, resting his chin in his hands. Pharos was also there, however, he was leaned against Minato, resting peacefully on the bench.

Naoya and Tatsuya approached them calmly, however, Minato still noticed their presence and grunted in acknowledgment.

"Mornin'," Naoya said as he rubbed Minato's left shoulder for a brief second. Tatsuya merely responded with a grunt of his own.

"To what do I owe this… pleasure?" Minato asked, not taking his eyes away from the window.

"Naoya wants to gather us all for some reason," Tatsuya explained quickly.

"And that reason is?" Minato asked.

"Don't know myself," Naoya said with a chuckle. "There was somethin' buggin' me when I woke up this mornin' and I had hoped that seeing your pretty little faces would help me realize what it was."

"Hilarious," besides Minato, Hamuko began to stir. When her eyes fluttered open, she was greeted to the sight of three of her teammates staring at her.

"Mornin' sleepy head," Naoya waved. Tatsuya gave another grunt while Minato refused to acknowledge her.

"'lo," Hamuko rose off of the bench and stretched. Pharos woke up the same time Hamuko did and hopped off of the bench quickly.

"Didn't know that Death could sleep," Tatsuya mumbled.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about Death," Pharos said with a chuckle. He waved to the others before vanishing, a wisp of smoke enveloped Hamuko before dissipated.

"Is something the matter?" Hamuko asked. Minato pointed to Naoya who gave an awkward smile.

"Kinda, but it's not really a big deal," Naoya said.

"You've gone out of your way to gather us and momentarily, Yu as well," Minato said as he stood up. "This isn't minute that's for sure."

"Alright, do you guys feel like… like you're forgetting something important?" Naoya asked. "Like today is something special… but you just can't pinpoint what it is exactly?"

"I'm forgetting something constantly, but that's on a personal level and doesn't pertain to this," Minato said as he crossed his arms.

"Sorry, can't say there's anything important I have scheduled today," Hamuko said.

"So it's just me then?" Naoya frowned and inhaled sharply. "No matter, I'll figure it out sooner or later."

"If it's something important to you Naoya, I think it'd be best if you found out sooner," Tatsuya said.

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Naoya rubbed his chin in thought.

There was a brief pause.

"Still nothin'…" Naoya groaned in frustration before quickly calming himself. "Well, never mind that now, let's go find Yu."

' _You can find him on the fourth floor, he seems to be arising now,'_ Elizabeth said.

With that, the team began to make their way to Yu's whereabouts.

"Can you tell us more about your younger years, Naoya?" Hamuko asked as they began their short journey to the fourth floor.

"But of course… where to begin?" Naoya smiled as she put his hands behind his head.

"Why not tell us how you and Philemon first met?" Minato suggested as he placed his hands in his pockets.

"Eh, that's not really that cool of a moment in life," Naoya drawled. "I got zapped by a bolt of lightning – in doors, mind you – and found myself face to face with the big guy during a hallucination brought upon said bolt of lightning."

"You could explain it differently and it could potentially become interesting," Tatsuya said as he flicked his lighter.

Naoya pushed the doors to the stair open and sighed. "How would I even begin to describe it differently?"

"I'm sure you could think of something," Hamuko said as she fixed her hair into her iconic ponytail.

"I dunno, I'm not good at generating atmosphere," Naoya said. "Here, I'll tell you about my friends, will that work?" When nobody gave a rebuttal, he nodded. "Well first, there's Rei… Rei Nanjo."

"Nanjo? I've heard that name before," Minato mused.

Hamuko playfully smacked him on the shoulder. "Don't interrupt him, it's rude."

Minato shot her a dirty look before grumbling something incoherent.

"A-anyways, Kei came from a… higher upbringing to say the least. He walked with his head held high and his pride held higher," Naoya explained. "Though he didn't show it, he held the team's best interests first and while he would always have a good idea as to what to do… he would always come to me for the final decision."

"We've all had somebody like that," Tatsuya assured. "But go on."

"Right… next was… ah, Yukino," Naoya said.

"Yukino? I've me-" Tatsuya was silenced by a smack on the shoulder from Hamuko. He quickly turned to face Hamuko and saw her put her fingers to her lips. Tatsuya turned to face Minato, who could only shrug in response.

"Yukino was like… the older sister. Always keeping a watchful eye on us… but at the same time remaining playful and true. She used to be a trouble kid… but thanks to our Guidance Counselor, Ms. Saeko, she had a change of heart."

"Saeko? Looks like I've met a handful of people you grew up with," Tatsuya said. He quickly jerked his head towards Hamuko and gave her a dark glare when he saw her hand closing in on his shoulder yet again.

She quickly pulled it away apologized.

"Hehe, either way, we've reached the fourth floor," Naoya said as he pushed the door open and held it for the others. When he closed it, they were greeted to the sight of a Siren – specifically, the one who resides at the front desk – making her way to the stairs.

She gave them a polite wave and whispered a 'good morning' before taking her leave.

"What was she doing all the way up here?" Hamuko asked.

"I think I might know," Minato whispered to Tatsuya, who himself looked down the hall to see Yu exiting his room while adjusting his shirt. He noticed the group and gave them a wave before making his way towards them.

"Morning everybody," Yu greeted. "And a very special good morning to y-" Minato quickly hushed Yu with a punch to his gut, grabbing his hair and pulling Yu towards him.

" _Keep quiet, this is supposed to be a secret,"_ Minato whispered in Yu's ear. He let go of his hair and stepped back.

"What the hell was that for Minato!?" Naoya asked as he stepped closer to Yu and rubbed his back.

"Just my way of saying 'good morning'," Minato said with a cocky smile.

"You didn't say good morning to us like that," Naoya said.

"Would you like me to?"

"Tch, are you okay Yu?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking Naoya," Yu assured as he stood up straight, rubbing his gut while shooting Minato a dirty look.

"Well alright," Naoya mumbled. "Since we're all here now, let's get thinkin'."

' _Margaret… is everything ready?'_ Yu asked through a secret link established the night before.

' _The stage is set, I now request that you bring the lead actor,'_ Margaret responded.

Everybody except for Naoya shared a quick, knowing glance before smiling.

"Hey, Naoya… let's worry about your problem as we go to the Velvet Room, there's something I want to deal with," Yu said as he rolled his shoulders.

"Uhh sure I had to go there anyways," Naoya said awkwardly. "Wait… how'd you know I had somethin' buggin' me, Yu?"

Yu's attention turned towards Minato, who himself was cracking his knuckles menacingly. Yu began to sweat profusely as he stumbled for an answer.

"I uh… err…," he sighed before rubbing his head. "Woman's… intuition."

* * *

"We'll be back shortly," Tatsuya assured the Siren at the front desk before he opened the front door. The Siren waved in response before leaning back in her seat.

"What was it like when you first summoned your Persona, Naoya?" Minato asked curiously as the group stepped into the rain. Hamuko huddled near Tatsuya in order to stay dry, something the other three didn't notice.

"Hmm," Naoya put a hand to his chin. "It was… somethin' alright. It felt like a new me had exploded from my body, and a power that I had never felt could now be called my own." Naoya scratched the back of his head. "Of course, I felt the drawbacks shortly afterwards and boy lemme tell ya… that wasn't fun. But I had to suck it up or get eaten by zombies."

"Sounds like you were just thrown headfirst into the mayhem," Minato mused as he thought back to his first summoning. "Then again, I was somewhat underprepared for my first time as well. All I had was a sword and my own wits."

"I had a golf club," Yu chimed in. "Not really the best weapon to use when fighting shadows."

"I had my Persona and my own two fists," Naoya remarked. "You whippersnappers have it easy nowadays." The group exchanged a warm laugh at Naoya's remark.

"Hey, we're here," Hamuko said as they approached the Velvet Door.

"I was told that Igor and Philemon wanted to see me," Naoya explained. "I'm not sure whether or not that extends to you guys."

Minato and Hamuko blew a raspberry at the same time without trying to. "We're comin' in there whether they like it or not."

"Was that planned or…" Naoya's voice trailed off.

"We wanna see what they want to talk about," Tatsuya began.

"Just as much as you do," Yu finished.

"Finishing each other's sentences? Somethin' ain't right here…"

"So we're going in there… together," they all said simultaneously.

' _Who is writing this?'_ Naoya thought inwardly, but sighed when he realized that they weren't gonna budge. "Alright, but if I get yelled at, it's on you four!" He chuckled and opened the door, once again holding it open for everybody else to enter.

When they all made it through, Naoya closed the door and saw that, while Igor and Philemon were there, the siblings were not.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted.

"My guest, Naoya Toudou," Philemon spoke. Naoya raised an eyebrow, but decided to let Philemon continue. "Do you remember our first meeting?"

"Uh… yeah? You're not the first person to ask me that today."

"Splendid," Philemon praised. "I'm sure you've had what is akin to a bothersome feeling in the back of your mind today, no?"

"Yes?" At this point, Naoya was beginning to grow confused.

"Do you remember our first meeting?" Igor asked.

"I entered this funny lookin' door at my local store and found you sittin' in your chair," Naoya explained. "Can we get to why you wanted to speak to me?"

"Oh? Is that not the current topic of conversation?" Philemon asked innocently.

"You're not makin' it seem like it," Naoya stepped forwards. "What's going on here? I think I deserve an answer."

"Humans, when a full year has passed since an important event… tend to hold some form of celebration."

"Celebration?" The puzzle pieces in Naoya's head began to connect and the bigger picture started to form. "A celebration… for an… event?"

"Naoya Toudou, come closer," Igor and Philemon said simultaneously.

"Guys… what's going on?" Naoya gave the duo a look of utter confusion.

Besides both Igor and Philemon, two doors appeared and opened at the same time, with Margaret and Elizabeth stepping through. They both wore… party hats atop their heads with wide smiles on their faces. They both took their seats at their respective chairs and waved politely to Naoya.

Naoya almost gasped in shock when he saw Theodore walk from behind him and take his respective seat as well, also wearing a party hat.

"Am I missing something?"

"You wouldn't be if you looked behind you," Minato spoke up, prompting Naoya to turn around.

His eyes widened at the sight before him.

His teammates were standing there, each wearing identical party hats, large smiles painted on their faces as they faced Naoya. Yu was front and center, holding a large cake in front of him.

Naoya read the writing on the cake and felt the beginning of tears well up at the corner of his eyes.

'Happy Birthday, Naoya!'

"Today… today's my birthday," Naoya whispered, finally realizing what had been bothering him all along.

"It is also the anniversary of when you first accessed your inner potential," Philemon said.

"H-how did you guys know?"

"I remember you told me your birthday when we first met at the train station," Yu explained. "You were the first to leave the Velvet Room when we got to this town so you didn't hear Igor bring up the fact that the anniversary of your first summoning was coming up so soon."

"Y-you guys," Naoya wiped his eyes and let out a small chuckle. "I can't believe you'd do this for me."

"Yeah well… somebody had to," Minato said. "It wouldn't feel right if we just ignored such a big event."

"While this is your anniversary," Tatsuya said. "This is also meaningful to us. You are, in a sense, our predecessor when it comes to this."

"So I'm like… a father to you guys."

"We were thinking brother but… if that's what you want to think then we won't stop you," Yu said with a smile. "You helped usher in a line of Persona users whose abilities have helped others and forged new bonds countless times."

"And without your… cheery… attitude keeping the team morale palpable, you've managed to keep us from losing sight of what's important," Minato said.

"I've only just met you, but I'm glad to say that when I'm around you, almost all of my worries go down the drain," Hamuko admitted.

"I-is that true guys?" Naoya asked.

"If it weren't true, we wouldn't be saying it," Tatsuya said bluntly.

"I've got forks!" Hamuko exclaimed.

"And I have plates," Minato said.

"How'd you even get those supplies?"

"Elizabeth and Margaret won't say," Minato said as he moved his hair out of his face. The team moved to the center of the Velvet Room and placed the cake on the table.

"Hehe… how could I forget that it was my birthday?"

"Well, given the circumstances… and the fact that you point out how you don't like feeling old… it's pretty possible to forget it," Yu explained.

"But what matters is that you know now," Minato assured.

"And we're gonna make sure you enjoy this birthday," Hamuko said.

"But eating in silence won't really be enjoyable," Naoya said.

"Then how about you tell us a story then?" Yu suggested.

"Like what?"

"Might I suggest you regale us with the tale of your journey?" Philemon commented.

"I uh… sure I guess," Naoya said. "So, it starts in an empty storage room."

"We already heard that part," Minato said. "Continue from where you left off originally."

"O-oh… right," Naoya said. "Where was I at again?"

"Some dork wanted to make you dance some dance of death, I think," Minato explained.

"Oh yeah, thanks," Naoya said. "So we-" he halted and shot Tatsuya an odd glance.

"What?"

"This is the part where you interrupt me," Naoya said, earning a laugh from everybody except for Tatsuya.

"Not this time Naoya," Tatsuya assured with a smile.

"… Cool," Naoya whispered. "So we're getting' ready for a brawl and then…"

* * *

 **September 20** **th** **, 1996**

 **Megami Ibunroku: Persona was released in Japan on the Playstation One, birthing the series we all know and love today.**

 **Happy Birthday Naoya!**

 **For the past couple of weeks I've been wondering how I should (IF I should) commemorate the 20** **th** **anniversary of Persona, and I decided a tiny little fluff chapter would fit nicely. To those who are wondering about the progress on 'Chapter 17', rest assured as it shall be ready for public eyes tomorrow.**

 **Which Persona game is your favorite?**

 **Stay Golden**


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